SBU One was born in France but moved to Montreal in 2004. For many years his street work walked the line between figurative and abstract, never quite one or the other. In the past few years he appears to have been doing a bit more figurative work, as least as far as his street work is concerned. It often features animals and zoomorphic characters and mashups, although it tends to remain closer to abstract when he works with frequent collaborator MSHL. In recent years his notorierity has increased rapidly, leading him to participate to festivals such as Under Pressure and Amalgam and then Mural Festival in 2017.

To see much more than what is featured in the photo gallery below (including studio/gallery work, animation, comics, and a lot of amazing street work outside Montreal), check out sbuone.com as well as his Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr pages.

SBU One est né en France mais habite Montréal depuis 2004. Pendant plusieurs années son art de rue balançait entre le figuratif et l’abstrait, jamais tout à fait l’un ou l’autre. Depuis quelques années l’artiste penche un peu plus vers le figuratif, du moins en ce qui concerne son art urbain. Animaux et personnages zoomorphiques y font des apparitions fréquentes. Ceci étant dit, celui-ci redevient plutôt abstrait lorsqu’effectué conjointement avec son fréquent collaborateur MSHL. SBU One a gagné beaucoup en notoriété ces dernières années, menant à des participations remarquées à des festivals tels que Under Pressure et Amalgam, et à l’édition 2017 du Festival Mural.

Pour en voir bien plus que ce qui est présenté dans la gallerie-photo ci-dessous (incluant des oeuvres en studio/gallerie, de l’animation, de la bande dessinée et beaucoup d’oeuvres urbaines géniales hors-Montréal), jetez up coup d’oeil à sbuone.com ainsi qu’à ses pages Facebook, Instagram et Tumblr.

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murals and other figurative painted pieces

Pieces in this section are shown in approximate reverse chronological order, so the most recent are at the top.

Les pièces de cette section de la galerie sont présentées en ordre chronologique inverse approximatif, de la plus récente à la plus vieille que j’ai eu la chance de photographier.

In a private alley space.

Figurative and letters both by SBU One.

Collaboration with MSHL and Bosny in Pointe St-Charles.

Collaboration with MSHL in Pointe St-Charles.

SBU One (left and ground) and Waxhead (right and top) on a bridge pillar. The characters were inspired by the 2 old homeless men who hung out at this spot at the time.

Sceak (letters) and SBU One (above) on a bridge pillar.

Koal on ground letters, SBU One on characters above and Bosny on textures, in a Mile End alley.

Rosemont alley collaboration with Bosny and Waxhead.

In an abandoned building.

In a Rosemont alley.

In a Mile End alley.

Collaboration with Waxhead in a Mile End alley.

Version 3 of a Portuguese rooster piece on a St-Laurent garage door. Scroll down for Versions 1 and 2 dating from a few years earlier.

In an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

A quickie at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

In a derelict place.

For the 2019 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Collaboration with MSHL in Pointe St-Charles.

Version 2 of a Portuguese rooster piece on a St-Laurent garage door. Scroll down for Version 1 dating from a few years earlier.

On a bridge pillar.

At the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Collaboration with MSHL in Pointe St-Charles.

Collaboration between MSHL and SBU One for the Canettes de Ruelle production.

For the 2018 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Found under a bridge.

Truck side mostly by SBU, with a bit by Naimo and MSHL. The back is all MSHL. Done during the 2018 edition of Mural Festival.

The opposite side of the above truck from the 2018 edition of Mural Festival is mostly Naimo with a bit by SBU and MSHL.

On a garage door in Hochelaga.

At the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Collaboration with Scribe in a Rosemont alley.

At the PSC legal graffiti wall.

In Rosemont.

In a Rosemont alley (click to zoom in).

SBU One (left) and Waxhead (right) in a Rosemont alley.

In Rosemont.

For the Gatos Callejeros production in a Rosemont alley.

This MSHL garage door in Mile End features some work by SBU One.

Collaboration with MSHL on the lower (2nd) floor and with Tiburon on the upper (3rd) one. The upper floor was retouched from an earlier SBU-solo piece, scroll down to view.

Collaboration with MSHL for the 2017 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Collaboration with Monk.e at the PSC legal graffiti wall. See below for 2 close-ups on SBU One’s parts.

Close-up 1/2 on SBU One’s part in a collaboration with Monk.e at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Close-up 2/2 on SBU One’s part in a collaboration with Monk.e at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Collaboration with MSHL in Pointe St-Charles.

Floors 2 and 3 added to the back of this Plateau building. Scroll down for a close-up of Level 1 from a year earlier. Level 2 is a collaboration with MSHL.

Contribution to the 2017 edition of Mural Festival.

On a house awaiting demolition in the Plateau.

Collaboration with Scribe in a Rosemont back alley.

In a Rosemont back alley.

In Petite-Patrie.

Collaboration with MSHL in the Plateau.

SBU One in the Plateau. More was added to this piece the following year, scroll up to view.

SBU One’s contribution to Plaza Walls.

Contribution to the 2016 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Contribution to the 2016 edition of Amalgam Festival.

Contribution to the 2016 International Percussion Festival.

Collaboration with MSHL in a Plateau alley.

Collaboration with Waxhead in a multi-artist mural project for Sun Youth. Visible bottom left is one of Starkey‘s wabbits.

A side piece done during the 2016 edition of Mural Festival.

This garage door was done off-Mural Festival in 2016.

Collaboration with MSHL in Mile End.

In St-Henri.

SBU One’s part in a multi-artist production in Old Montreal.

At the PSC legal graffiti wall.

At the PSC legal graffiti wall.

At the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Behind a studio in St-Henri.

Underneath expressway. Photo © SBU One.

With Zdey on the right at the PSC legal graffiti wall. Photo © SBU One.

On the roof of the Omnipac building (now demolished). Photo © SBU One.

Photo © SBU One.

Photo © SBU One.

Underneath expressway. Photo © SBU One.

Underneath expressway.

Underneath expressway.

Underneath expressway.

On a concrete block found in an abandoned lot in Hochelaga

Very old piece dated 2006 in the Plateau.

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Group murals

MSHL, SBU One and Bosny representing the Gentil Crew in Pointe St-Charles.

The ‘Gentil Crew’ wall from the 2020 edition of the Under Pressure Festival featuring SBU One, LSNR, MSHL, Bosny, Le Monstr, Nikki Küntzle and Maylee Keo.

Collaborative wall in a Mile End alley by the Gentil crew featuring Bosny</a, SBU One, Loopkin, LSNR, MSHL, Maylee Keo and Wild.

The ‘Gentil Crew’ wall from the 2019 edition of the Under Pressure Festival featuring SBU One, LSNR, MSHL, Bosny, Loopkin, Le Monstr and Maylee Keo. Scroll down for a close-up.

Close-up on the ‘Gentil Crew’ wall from the 2019 edition of the Under Pressure Festival featuring SBU One, LSNR, MSHL, Bosny, Loopkin, Le Monstr and Maylee Keo.

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Letters

SBU’s letters are also figurative, which makes sorting his work into this section or the figurative section sometimes a bit tricky. Pieces are shown here in approximate reverse chronological order, so the most recent are at the top.

Lorsque SBU écrit son nom en mode graffiti, ses lettres gardent leur coté figuratif, ce qui peut rendre l’exercice de classer ses pièces dans cette section ou la section figurative un peu difficile. Les pièces de cette section de la galerie sont présentées en ordre chronologique inverse approximatif, de la plus récente à la plus vieille que j’ai eu la chance de photographier.

At the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

In an abandoned building.

On an abandoned building in the Plateau.

In an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

In the dark basement of an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

At the 2019 Lachine graffiti jam.

Collaboration between the Mad Rats and SBU One found in Rosemont.

In Rosemont.

SBU One’s own kind of letters in Petite-Patrie.

Spelling out S-B-U at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

At the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

In Rosemont.

In Rosemont.

In Rosemont. Photo © SBU One.

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Videshi babaji

SBU One has this recurring character which he calls “Videshi babaji” serving as some sort of logo and which he seems to use in the way graffiti writers would with a throw (quickly sprayed piece with outline and uniform fill). Most of the time the character is a bearded head with a hat, but in at least one instance, it was given a whole body.

SBU One a un personnage récurrent appelé “Videshi babaji” lui servant en quelque sorte de logo, ou d’équivalent du throw (pièce rapidement exécutée ne consistant que d’un contour et un remplissage uniforme) chez les graffeurs. Dans la majorité des cas le perso est une tête d’homme barbu arborant une casquette, mais dans au moins un cas, SBU lui a donné un corps.

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drawn pieces

Quickie in a Petite-Patrie alley.

In an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

Found inside the abandoned Transco.

Found inside the abandoned Transco.

In an abandoned building.

In an abandoned building.

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wheatpastes

Most, perhaps all pieces below are in collaboration with MSHL.

La majorité, sinon toutes les pièces ci-dessous sont des collaborations avec MSHL.

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stickers

“S”

“B”

“U”

“1”

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throws and tags

Found in an abandoned building.