Retrospective of 2023 graffiti

This image gallery brings together 200 great pieces of Montreal graffiti from 2023. It is not necessarily the best of the year because taste is a subjective thing and I was obviously not able to photograph everything. The selection was done partly from my own personal favourites but mostly from those of my followers on Instagram. Of course this list was put together from what I was actually able to photograph, so keep in mind that it may lack some great work that just slipped between the cracks.

The pieces are shown here in alphabetical order of artist/crew name. To ensure that the list wasn’t filled with only work from a few popular writers, I have set a maximum of 3 pieces per artist. Collaborations by two or more artists under one common theme count as one entry.

See also:
Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art
Retrospective of 2023 pasted street art and installations

Cette galerie-photo présente 200 pièces de graffiti produites en 2023 à Montréal. Cette liste n’a pas la prétention d’être un best of de l’année puisque les goûts sont personnels et je n’ai évidemment pas eu la chance de tout photographier. La sélection s’est faite en partie parmi mes pièces favorites, mais surtout parmi les préférées de mes abonnés Instagram. Cette liste a bien sur été créée à partir de ce que j’ai eu la chance de trouver et de photographier, ce qui signifie que quelques chef d’oeuvres de 2023 pourraient ne pas y figurer.

Les pièces apparaissent ci-dessous en ordre alphabétique de nom d’artiste/crew. Pour que la liste ne soit pas totalement accaparée par quelques graffeurs populaires, j’ai fixé un maximum de 3 pièces par personne. Les collaborations entre deux ou plusieurs artistes sur un même thème ne comptent que pour une entrée.

Voir aussi:
Retrospective 2023 murales et autre street art peint
Retrospective 2023 street art collé et installations


Anonymous tribute to Nicous D’Andre Spring, in an empty lot in Hochelaga.

510 Plus 165 in Rosemont.

Acek at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Acher and Omic on an industrial rooftop.
Scroll down to ‘Omic’ for more by this graffer.

Acher inside an abandoned building.

Acher inside an abandoned building.

ACK / K6A crews’ wall for the Breaking Walls / Meeting Of Styles event, featuring Trepo Parker, Nick Sweetman, Xeme and Tensoe.
Nick also appears in the list below under ‘Serak’.

Adi inside an abandoned building.

Adi inside an abandoned building.

Airod (TER) and Ofet (DW) in Ville St-Laurent.
More by Airod below, under ‘Ekes’ and under ‘Stock’.

Archnemeses Aper and Zonek. Zonek’s piece is earlier than 2023 but Aper settled in next door this year, giving photographers the opportunity of shooting them side by side.

Arpi for the 2023 Lachine graffiti jam.

Arpi in Pointe St-Charles.
Arpi had a busy year, he also made it into the soon to be published Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art as well as the Retrospective of 2023 pasted street art and installations.

Art Gang’s Senck and Snipes in Côte des Neiges.

Above 4: Art Gang’s wall for the 2023 edition of the Under Pressure Festival: close-ups on Cemz, Senck and Snipes and Timer‘s letters, plus complete wall featuring Jaker‘s huge piece.
Cemz also appears below under his name and under ‘Zek’. Timer also appears in another Art Gang prod below, as well as in solo. Jaker has solo work below and also makes it into this retrospective under ‘Sapo’.

Above 4: Art Gang prod in Côte des Neiges featuring Senck, Smak, Snipes and Timer.
Smak and Timer also have solo entries in this list (scroll down), and Smak appears as well under ‘Maps’.

Ason in Rosemont.

Awie in St-Henri featuring a character by Lauren Ys.
Lauren has 2 walls in the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Awie in Hochelaga

Axe Lalime and Awie in Hochelaga.
Both also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

One of Axe Lalime‘s many pieces in the Crack House Deluxe project which he co-created and co-curated with Korb. A photo retrospective of this memorable project is being prepared.

Axe Lalime at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Bacer in Ahuntsic.

Bacer in Côte St-Paul for the TFO40 jam.

BAD crew piece in NDG featuring Micer, Riot, Psycho and Fault.
More below by Micer, Riot and Psycho.

Bhar inside an abandoned building.
More Bhar below under ‘CEK’.

Bibi Una off St-Laurent.

Blaze in the South West.
More by Blaze below under ‘Hot Boys’.

Blek in Hochelaga.

Bosny for the 2023 Lachine graffiti jam.

Bosny inside an abandoned building.
Bosny also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Case in Ahuntsic.

Casp in Hochelaga.

Cast and Asar in St-Henri.

Highwayside Cast.
More Cast is found below under ‘CMP’.

CEK collaboration of Bhar, Deep and Amon.
Amon is also found below under ‘Naimo’.

Above 2: CEK’s Bhar, Deep, Jher and Bigo in Hochelaga.
Bhar, Deep and Jher also have more work in this list under their respective names. Jher also appears under ‘Metz’.

Cemz in St-Henri.
There’s more Cemz above under ‘Art Gang’ and below under ‘Zek’.

Clev in Hochelaga.

C’Lok at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.
More great work by Clok below under ‘Maniak’.

Trackside CMP session featuring Drif and Cast.
Cast also appears above under his name.

Cone’s piece in the 2023 alley tribute to Scan for Mural Festival.

Trackside Corset.

Crane‘s contribution to the Crack House Deluxe project.
More by Crane below under ‘Crazy Apes’ and under ‘K6A/Crazy Apes’.

The Crazy Apes‘ wall for the 2023 edition of the Under Pressure Festival, featuring Korb, Akuma, Sank, Crane and Havok.
Korb, Sank and Crane also have solo work in this retrospective. Sank and Crane are also on the K6A / Crazy Apes wall further down this list.

Deep featuring a character by Jijon, for the Graff Jam 77 prod.
More by Deep above under ‘CEK’.
Jijon also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Deso, Jebse and Beast in Pointe St-Charles.

Deso, Jebse, Dape and Beast in Pointe St-Charles.

Above 3: Dfek and Zen in the Plateau, close-ups on each letter piece then full wall.
More by those two below under ‘Zen’. Dfek also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 pasted street art and installations.

EK Sept inside an abandoned building.
More by EK Sept in this list under ‘Hest’ and under ‘LTG’.

Ekes, Airod, Stock and Qepy for the 2023 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.
More by Airod above under his name. More Ekes, Airod and Stock below under Stock’s name. Qepy also has solo work in this retrospective, see below.

Ekes in highwayland.

Trackside Ekler.

Ekler for the 2023 Lachine graffiti jam.

Ekual inside an abandoned building.
There’s more by Ekual in this list under ‘Metz’.

Ensor in Rosemont.

Eskro and Leys by the highway.

Leys and Eskro on an abandoned building.

Eskro on an abandoned building.

Evism on a bridge pillar.

Ewol in Rosemont.

F.One in Rosemont.

F.One in Rosemont.

F.One in Hochelaga.

Fake inside an abandoned building.

Fleo‘s contribution to the Crack House Deluxe project.
Fleo also contributed to the K6A / Crazy Apes wall found below.

Highwayside Flesh featuring a character by Gros Pouel.

Flesh from a MG crew prod in Mile Ex.
More by Flesh below under ‘MG’.

Trackside FT Crew piece by 1BL3 and Clast.

Giles from a MG crew prod in Mile Ex.

Giles inside an abandoned building.
More by Giles below under ‘MG’.

Haks and Nemo for the 2023 Lachine graffiti jam.
More by Haks below under ‘LTG’ and under ‘Tyxna’.

Hank in Hochelaga.
Hank also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Hary inside an abandoned building.

Hary inside an abandoned building.
Hary also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Above 2: 2 angles of a house side roller by Help in Pointe St-Charles.

Hest and EK Sept‘s collaboration for the 2023 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.
EK Sept also makes it into this list with solo work as well as under ‘LTG’.

Hest inside an abandoned building.

Hest in Hochelaga.

Hoar in Hochelaga.
Hoar also contributed to the LTG crew wall found below.

Above 3: Riok, Aldarwin and Hospek at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Hospek featuring character by Syrup at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.
Syrup also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Hot Boys’ Blaze and Moxie on a disused metro car.
Blaze also has a solo piece in this list, scroll up to his name to view.

Hozek in Hochelaga.
Hozek also appears on the LTG wall found below as well as in the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Massive Jaker on a pillar of the Jacques-Cartier bridge.
It’s been a massive year for Jaker, you can see more above under ‘Art Gang’ and below under ‘Sapo’.

Janek‘s contribution to Breaking Walls / Meeting Of Styles.

Javes inside an abandoned building.

Javes inside an abandoned building.

Jher and Snob in Hochelaga.
There’s more by Jher above under ‘CEK’ and below under ‘Metz’.

Joh’ste from the first big prod of the year, in Mercier.

June in Ahuntsic.

Above 3: the K6A / Crazy Apes wall for Breaking Walls / Meeting Of Styles. First the K6A half (featuring Saer, Royal, Fleo), then the Crazy Apes half (featuring Sank and Crane), then the complete wall.
Royal, Fleo, Sank and Crane also have solo work in this retrospective. Sank and Crane are also on a Crazy Apes wall.

Kamz inside an abandoned building.

Kare at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel for one of the year’s SinoJams.

Above 5: Killa EF, Some, Sober, Pito and Kare for Breaking Walls / Meeting Of Styles.
More Killa EF and Pito below under ‘Pito’, and more Pito under ‘Wonez’. Kare also has a solo piece above.

One of Kong’s massive feats of the year, a back-breaking piece painted over 2 consecutive nights.

Above 2: close-up and context shot of Kong’s much noticed hit on a hard to reach spot of the Jacques-Cartier bridge.

Above 2: 2 angles of Kong on a set of containers in the industrial South West.

One of Korb‘s many pieces in the Crack House Deluxe project which he co-created and co-curated with Axe. A photo retrospective of this memorable event is being prepared.

Korb in St-Henri.
More by Korb above under ‘Crazy Apes’.
Korb also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Highwayside Kwun.

Kwun from the first big prod of the year, in Mercier.

Legal in Monkland village.

Legal in Rosemont.

Louis Letters inside an abandoned building.

Louis Letters inside an abandoned building.

Louis Letters in Hochelaga.

The LTG and friends wall for the 2023 edition of the Under Pressure Festival featuring Hoar, EK Sept, Rizek, Hozek, Paynt, Wuna and Haks.
Hoar, EK Sept, Rizek, Hozek and Wuna also make this list with solo pieces. EK Sept also collaborated with Hest. Haks is also found under his name and under ‘Tyxna’.

Above 3: Maniak, C’Lok and Merv in Rosemont.
More by C’Lok above under his name.

Maniak and C’Lok collaboration for the 2023 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Maniak at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Maps and Smak’s section of the TFO40 prod in Côte St-Paul.
More by Smak below in solo and above under ‘Art Gang’.

Maysr in St-Henri.

Maysr for the 2023 Lachine graffiti jam.

Above 2: Meor and Narc off-Mural collaboration.
Narc also has a solo wall in this retrospective.

Metz, Jher, Tankil and Ekual in industrial Ville St-Laurent.
Jher also appears above in solo and under ‘CEK’. Ekual has a solo piece above. Metz is also below under ‘Tens’.

MG crew trackside piece featuring Giles, Shek and Flesh.
Giles and Flesh also have solo pieces in this retrospective.

Micer at the PSC legal graffiti wall.
More by Micer under ‘BAD’ and under ‘Psycho’.

Mitik and Rains at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Mitik and Rains at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Moeka inside an abandoned building.

Above 2: 2 angles of Monet, Seth, Tiko and Cutie on rooftop.
More by Seth and Tiko below under ‘Nineties’.

Monk.e in St-Henri.

Monk.e in St-Henri.

Monk.e in Rosemont.
Monk.e also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Morgue inside an abandoned building.

Moris from a MG crew prod in Mile Ex.

Myrage on an abandoned building.

Myrage in Hochelaga, featuring a character by Rizek.

Naimo and Amon for the 2023 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.
Amon also contributed to a CEK piece found above.

Naimo in Hochelaga.

Narc‘s contribution to Breaking Walls / Meeting Of Styles.
There’s more by Narc above under ‘Meor’.

One of the many train pieces by Nesar photographed in 2023.

Nineties crew hit by Seth, Gabr and Tiko.
Seth and Tiko are also featured above under ‘Monet’.

Nor’s contribution to the 2023 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

NTFA / XPR trackside hit by Arcel and Beo.

Ofusk‘s contribution to Breaking Walls / Meeting Of Styles.

Ofusk inside an abandoned building.

Ofusk in Villeray.

Highwayside Omic.

Omic on bridge pillar. There’s more by Omic above, scroll up to ‘Acher’ to view.

Peace and Froke for the 2023 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Peace from the first big prod of the year, in Mercier.

Penas and Kiler, trackside.

Highwayside Penas in Ville St-Laurent.

Penas in highwayland.

Peru143 on letters and Astro on characters, for Breaking Walls / Meeting Of Styles.
Astro also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art as well as the Retrospective of 2023 pasted street art and installations.

Peru143 for the 2023 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Peyo in Hochelaga.

Pito and Killa EF‘s contribution to the 2023 alley tribute to Scan for Mural Festival.
More by those two above under Killa’s name, and more by Pito under ‘Wonez’.

Pozek from Toulouse at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Psycho and Micer in Pointe St-Charles.
Both of them appear above in a BAD crew hit. Micer also has a solo piece in this retrospective.

Qepy in Hochelaga.
More by Qepy above under ‘Ekes’.

Resok in Hochelaga.

Resok for the 2023 Lachine graffiti jam.

Resok in Hochelaga.

Riot in a graffiti alley.
Riot also contributed to a BAD crew piece found above.

Rizek in Hochelaga.

Rizek in Hochelaga.
Rizek also appears on the LTG crew wall found above.

Royal‘s contribution to the Crack House Deluxe project.
Royal also contributed to a K6A / Crazy Apes wall, scroll up to view.

Sane in Rosemont.

Sank in Rosemont.
More by Sank above under ‘Crazy Apes’ and under ‘K6A / Crazy Apes’.

Rappel pieces grew in popularity in 2023. Sapo first hit this wall in solo (left), then came back shortly after with Jaker (right).
More by Jake above under his name and under ‘Art Gang’.

Seke and Resn, highwayside.

Sener on letters and Flying Eric on character, inside an abandoned building.

Rappel piece by Sener, between older pieces by Penas and Metz.

Senok in highwayland.

Serak on letters and Nick Sweetman on raccoon, in the 2023 alley tribute to Scan for Mural Festival.
Nick also appears on the ACK / K6A wall near the top of this list.

Sewer and Fomer in Mile End.

Sewer at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Sino at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel for one of the year’s SinoJams.

Skor‘s contribution to Breaking Walls / Meeting Of Styles.

Sluk in Parc-Ex.

Sluk on the roof of an abandoned church.

Smak in Côte St-Paul.
Smak also makes this list under ‘Art Gang’ and under ‘Maps’.

Above 2: 2 angles of Stare gold in Mile End.

Stare at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Above 4: close-ups and full shot of Stock for TMRC, Airod for TER and Ekes for 203, on a disused VIA train car. More by all three above in this list, under ‘Ekes’. There’s also more by Airod under his name.

Sucr at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Swik in Rosemont.
Swik also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 pasted street art and installations.

Above 3: 3 angles of Tens crew‘ strike on the iconic Molson brewery building.
Metz from this crew also makes this list under his own name. More uncredited Tens crew people are also in this list.

Tens crew off the roof of a Ville-Marie building.

Timer in a graffiti alley.
There’s two more entries by Timer in this list, both found under ‘Art Gang’.

Tom Penny in Mile End.

Tonie in Chinatown.

Tricks on a Pointe St-Charles roof.

Tuna in Ahuntsic.

Above 3: close-ups and full shot of a Tyxna project in Hochelaga, featuring letter pieces by Zek and Fuser, guest Haks, and figurative material by Dodo Osé.
More by Zek near the bottom of this list. More by Haks above under his name and under ‘LTG’.
The Tyxna collective, as well as Dodo in solo, have also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Highwayside VC crew hit featuring Jazz, Castro and Smoke.

Wiser and Ahmer on the marquee of these graffiti terrasses.

Above 2: Wonez and Pito inside an abandoned building.
More by Pito above under his name and under ‘Killa EF’.

Wuna in Hochelaga.
Wuna also contributed as a friend on the LTG crew wall featured above.
She also made it into the Retrospective of 2023 murals and other painted street art.

Wysper‘s contribution to Breaking Walls / Meeting Of Styles.

Zaver and Reboe in St-Henri.
More by these two at the very bottom of this list under ‘Zonek’.

Zek and Cemz‘s section of the TFO40 prod in Côte St-Paul.
Zek also makes this list under ‘Tyxna’. Cemz has solo work and his appearance on an Art Gang wall above.

Zek in Côte St-Paul

Above 2: Dfek (left letters) and Zen (characters, right letters) in Rosemont.
There’s more by those two above under ‘Dfek’.

Zen mural in Rosemont.

Zepo in Rosemont.

Zonek, Reboe and Zaver on the roof of an abandoned building.
More by Reboe and Zaver above, under ‘Zaver’.

2 thoughts on “Retrospective of 2023 graffiti”

  1. The works are so Intricate and the colors are striking.i really enjoyed going through the photos. Great commentary too. Still, I prefer the figurative ones. Thanks for sharing!

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