From the moment I stepped into Downtown Montreal I knew I had to go back and dedicate some of my time to the incredible street art of the Boulevard St- Laurent and around. It happened really rarely that I stopped and took photos of street art during my travels (except of course in Bethlehem, with Banksy and all), but this time I was immediately hooked. And so I took my camera(s) and went out, walked all the way south to north, and came up with these shots (and some extra knowledge).
“Machine Consciente” by Rafael Sottolichio
During my “street art hunt” I was even so lucky to meet an artist, Mr Luc Saucier, while he was painting the lettering of an incredibly beautiful mural:
Luc Saucier painting
It took me a while to introduce myself and ask for his permission to take a photo of him, because A) I am super shy and B) I didn’t want to disturb him in his great concentration. In the end, Luc not only agreed on having me taking photos, but even shook my hand and explained me something about the Montreal street art: many of these incredible murals are by MU. Just looking at their website makes me understand how many great pieces of art I missed! The website also features a map of the projects. I wish I knew this before. Oh man, I need to go back.
I strongly suggest you to have a look at the MU projects gallery as you can see the “before and afters” of those skillfully painted walls, together with the story behind each piece. I have put a link on the photos I took to the corresponding page, when available. How cool am I?
“Generations” by Gene Pendon, 2014
It took me a while to notice this. Thanks Luc to showing me this great piece!
A mural in the “Quartier Latin”, the Latin quarter of Montreal
“Le Quartier Latin, au coeur de la création culturelle” (he Latin Quarter, at the heart of cultural creation) by Hélène Fleury.
“Au fil de l’eau” by Phillip Adams
Just the sign of a club.
Justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women
There’s this story we don’t hear about on this side of the ocean, about Indigenous women disappearing and being killed in Canada since many years. As far as I understood on my trip, nothing is being done in order to investigate and prevent this kind of crime. Why? Go ask the politicians, not me!
A cool looking parking
Colors! Trippy!
Another cool looking parking. Wouldn’t mind leaving my car there every day (well, if I had a car, of course)
I love this piece so full of meaning.
I am quoting myself here:
Pictures have the power to convey a whole feeling, a whole story, in a universal language that doesn’t need any translation or explanation.
Isn’t this everywhere?
Trippier than trippy!
Workers and graffiti
One of my personal favorites.
Incredible artistic skills.
Not sure I fully understood the message behind this one, but I like looking at it
Sometimes amazing pieces are a bit hidden away
This looks so much better than a blank wall. It’s a beautiful, relaxing place.
Coolest granny ever!
Grandpa?
This was weird. More about this below.
So basically I was walking and at some point I found myself in a Jewish tombstone factory (which is a bit unusual for me already) and on top of that the factory was decorated with graffiti. Okay.
Same tombstone factory, different wall.
Hey guys!
An average looking building turned into a special one.
Masterpiece!
I am sure there are more BIG names among the graffiti I posted above. Should you be able to help me identifying them, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email, so I can update the post with more information. Thanks!
Also, I found out that in June the city of Montreal hosts the “MURAL Festival”. Check out their gallery for more incredible street art. WOW, WOW, WOW.
And so yes, this is how I spent one of my days in Montreal!