Here & There: June 2012

Summer is in full swing and the streets are on fire. Lot's of activity out there. I've been cooling my heels and taking time with some family in town lately so I haven't been able to go through most of my new stuff. Here are some recent pics I've put together from the streets, TA wall and factory, Stinkys, and and just about anywhere else I've been traveling. Still getting those rooftops as much as possible but some access points are getting a little heavy to negotiate. In any case enjoy this hodgepodge of pics from various spots.

 

The upper TA Wall was buffed entirely again. I'm still not sure what kind of strategy this is for the city, or the MTQ to manage the area. There has also been an increased police presence in the area and I have heard of several incidents where the police either stopped or arrested writers in the area over the last month or so. The bottom section of the wall has been untouched. The buff only goes till the junction box area by the far pylons before you descend to the lower wall area. I've even seen a MTQ truck cruise through as I was entering last Friday. Again, I'm not too sure what the city or the MTQ is trying to accomplish here considering the last time they tried this strategy was August of 2009 when the entire upper and lower wall area was buffed, and that was largely unsuccessful. The lower wall and factory remain active.

Solid productions by Otek and Apash, as well as Oser and Fleo as of recent at the TA Wall. I'm also digging a lot of the action in the factory as of late. Lots of bright colors and funky styles. And speaking of access issues, check out this shot I got from the back of Sex Cite. I was about to check the spot to get some rooftop action but was stopped by a stair cage wrapped in razor wire! I've seen enough of this stuff in New York City, but not a lot here, if ever for that matter. Needless to say I didn't get up on the rooftop and can imagine that as long as the razor wire is hanging about this area that I won't anytime soon. I'm not even sure if this is legal in Montreal and have had difficulty locating any information on the city websites on the issue. If anyone knows then message me some details.

More soon, stay posted.

Bombe sur la Main: Friday May 28th 2010

I had the pleasure of stopping by to see some of the local graffiti talent piecing it up on the corner of St. Catherine's street and St. Laurent on Friday May 28th for the event "Bombe sur la Main", an graffiti jam and artistic homage to this once once bustling part of the red light district. Partnered by le Corporation de développement urbain du Faubourg Saint-Laurent et du Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles this day long event that ran from noon on until about midnight that same evening and involved a bunch of writers and artists from local crews and collectives such as K6A, TA, Crazy Apes Crew, Positive Créations, and La Paria. Included were artists Regimental Oneton and Chris Dyer as well as local writers and artists Arpi, DKae, Fleo, Tom Sidor, Zeck and Herezy, Peru and Cabin, Fluke, Axe, Serak, Kode, and Monk-e. Seaz and Zilon also painted a collaborative piece. Meant to be partly an homage to Cabaret Cleopatra's and the once existent businesses that graced this corner like the Montreal Pool Room, and others, this event was also about getting some of the writing community together to jam, having a good time painting, communicating a positive message to the public about the graffiti subculture, and bring attention to a little bit of culture and history of Montreal's red light district. Cleopatra's is the last business still holding out against forced expropriation by the city for a new Hydro Quebec office building project so if your interested in learning more then click the Cleopatra link and check out their news section. Although Montreal is the heaviest bombed city in Canada, there is still an equal amount of collaborative artistic projects that are done on a  regular basis through out the city sanctioned either by property owners or local governments. Regardless of the negative press or internal subcultural disputes between writers or crews, there is still a strong sense of community among Montreal graffiti writers and artists and it is events like this that display that comradeship and the positive productions that these individuals are capable of. Here are some shots of the event in progress when I dropped by Friday afternoon. I'll post some flicks of the finished walls when I drop by this week.

I'll have some pics of area finished soon.
Keep posted.