Junko

Junko puts together ‘sculptures’ from reclaimed materials (plastic, metal, rubber and other items found in trash), or natural elements (wood, plants), or a mix of both, which he then installs in more or less public locations. His first public installations were put up in Mile End at the very end of 2020 and a buzz was immediately created around the artist, who was then interviewed for various media. From that point he started installing his creations in more remote spots in or around Montreal.

To see more than what I was lucky to find and photograph, or to see some of his studio work, have a look at the artist’s Instagram page.

Junko crée des ‘sculptures’ à partir de matériaux recyclés (plastique, métal, caoutchouc et autres items trouvés dans les poubelles), ou d’éléments naturels (bois, plantes), ou un mélange des deux. Ses sculptures sont ensuite installées dans des endroits plus ou moins publics. Ses premières installations, apparues dans Mile End à la toute fin de 2020, ont créé un buzz autour de l’artiste qui a ensuite été interviewé par plusieurs médias. Ses créations subséquentes ont été installées dans des endroits un peu moins fréquentés, à Montréal ou dans les environs.

Pour en voir plus que ce que j’ai eu la chance de trouver et photographier, ou pour voir des création en studio, vous êtes invités à jeter un coup d’oeil à sa page Instagram.


Bassin Peel, July 2024


Inside abandoned building, December 2023


Abandoned building in the South West, November 2023


Lachine Canal, August 2023


Mural Festival, June 2023


South West, January 2022

After creating his previous piece all from wood and other plant parts, this new piece to kick off 2022 mixed wood and reclaimed plastic and metal.


Hochelaga, December 2021

After creating solely from reclaimed materials, this is Junko’s first piece made completely from biodegradable material, mostly wood and other plant parts. This is the artist’s second installation in this spot. Just like the first one from March 2021, it served to bring attention to Hochelaga residents’ efforts to preserve an empty lot which the city mean to develop.


Lasalle, October 2021

Photos of this piece are from 2 distinct sessions.


Ville Emard, July 2021


Hochelaga, May 2021


Côte-des-Neiges, April 2021


Hochelaga, March 2021

This installation served to bring attention to Hochelaga residents’ efforts to preserve an empty lot which the city mean to develop.

At some point during the following summer the installation was moved to a woody area nearby.


Mile End, February 2021


Montreal West, January 2021


Mile End, December 2020


Mile End, December 2020


Mile End, December 2020


Mile End, December 2020

Canettes de Ruelle Festival

The Canettes de Ruelle Festival was created as a counterpart to the big international urban art festivals that are Mural Festival and Under Pressure. It takes place in residential back alleys in Rosemont and is very family- and community-oriented. Canettes de Ruelle is not a big touristy event but rather a big neighbourhood jam bringing together artists with the community living around the alleys where it takes place.

The festival aims to promote artistic freedom and features many emerging or more radical artists on its programme alongside some better known graffiti and street artists in the city. As it grows, it also aims at being more inclusive, giving priority to black, indigenous and other people of color, and to female and non-binary artists.

Canettes de Ruelle takes place every year in early September around labor day. The first edition happened in 2017. It was actually called Alleycats (aka Chats de Ruelle or Gatos Callejeros) that first year, and became Canettes de Ruelle from its second edition in September 2018.

For a map of all the current walls, go to the Canettes de Ruelle website.

Canettes de Ruelle Instagram

Le festival Canettes de Ruelle a été créé en tant qu’alternative aux grands festivals internationaux d’art urbain que sont Festival Mural et Under Pressure. Il a lieu dans les ruelles résidentielles du quartier Rosemont et est plus orienté vers les familles et la communauté que Mural ou Under Pressure. Contrairement à ces derniers, il n’est pas un gros événement touristique, mais plutôt un gros jam rassemblant des artistes locaux et les résidents du quartier.

Le festival a pour but de promouvoir la liberté artistique et inclut sur son programme plusieurs artistes émergent et radicaux aux cotés d’artistes de graffiti ou de street art plus établis. De plus, alors qu’il croit en importance, il vise à devenir plus inclusif et s’assure de donner priorité aux artistes noirs, autochtones ou de couleur, ainsi qu’aux femmes et aux personnes non-binaires.

Canettes de Ruelle a lieu chaque année au début de septembre, autour de la fête du travail. La première édition a eu lieu en 2017. Cette première édition s’appelait en fait Chats de Ruelle (ou Alleycats ou Gatos Callejeros), le festival est devenu Canettes de Ruelle à partir de sa seconde édition en 2018.

Une mappe de tous les murs se trouve sur le site web de Canettes de Ruelle.


To see the murals and other art produced in the context of the Canettes de Ruelle Festival, pick a year from the menu below.

Pour voir les murales et les autres oeuvres produites dans le contexte du Festival Canettes de Ruelle, choisissez une année du menu ci-dessous.

Canettes de Ruelle 2025

Canettes de Ruelle 2024

Canettes de Ruelle 2023

Canettes de Ruelle 2022

Canettes de Ruelle 2021

Canettes de Ruelle 2020

Canettes de Ruelle 2019

Canettes de Ruelle 2018

Chats de Ruelle aka Alleycats aka Gatos Callejeros (Canettes de Ruelle 2017)

Canettes de Ruelle 2021

This image gallery brings together photos of all the pieces created for the 5th edition of Canettes de Ruelle. For this 2021 edition the festival took place in the alleys between 5th and 9th avenues, from Masson to St-Joseph. The gallery below is roughly sorted from west to east, down the 5th/6th alley, up the 6th/7th, down the 7th/8th and up the 8th/9th.

Cette gallerie-photo présente toutes les oeuvres créées dans le contexte de la 5e édition du festival Canettes de Ruelle. Pour cette édition 2021, le festival s’est déroulé dans les ruelles entre la 5e Avenue et la 9e Avenue, de Masson à St-Joseph. La gallerie est ordonnée approximativement d’ouest en est, descendant la ruelle 5e/6e, montant la ruelle 6e/7e, redescendant la 7e/8e et enfin remontant la 8e/9e.


Pascal Foisy. The actual piece is on the left, the second photo shows the piece in negative, as it was painted by the artist in reverse.

Amer

A huge collaboration between MSHL and Diane Roe.

Above 4 photos: the 4 walls comprising Lama‘s contribution.

Above 4 photos: Vatos Abstractos, the duo of Omar Bernal and Adida Fallen Angel. The first 3 shots were taken at the end of autumn after the leaves were fallen as the piece is normally hidden behind leaves, as can be seen in the 4th shot.

BDG

Giles

Collaboration of Louis Letters and Adi.

Heras

Alors

Bosny

Aclaes

Le Monstr

Maliciouz

The left half of the all-female Rude crew wall featuring, from left to right: Tshokodile, Loopkin, Her, Mart, Medusa, Moule as well as Kawaz on RUDE letters.

The right half of the all-female Rude crew wall featuring, from left to right: Lora, Mono Sourcil, Sam’19, Mos Geez, Viviane Fortin.

Flesh and Shek.

Nero and Rival.

Zola

Hest on letters and Wuna and characteur, with quickies by Hob and le Renard Fou above.

Menar

Mad Rats

Above 2 photos: Julian Palma.

Ilana Pichon

Izabelle Duguay

Nikki Küntzle

LP Montoya

River June and Henri Papy

Filco

Louis Letters, Adi and Heras representing TRU crew.

Studio Lag

Dodo Osé and LNK collaboration.

Fleo

Melissa Menzi

Mili

Pane and Regar collaboration.

Grils and EK Sept collaboration.

This tribute is by the “friends of Jenny”.

Renard Fou at ground level with Asher top left and Hob top right.

Ekes and Marchandise TT collaboration.

Trak over a background by LP Montoya.

Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art

This image gallery brings together 100 great murals and other painted street art pieces from 2021. 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 artists, I have set a maximum of 4 pieces per artist. Collaborations by two or more artists count as one entry.

See also:
Retrospective of 2021 pasted street art and installations
Retrospective of 2021 graffiti

Cette galerie-photo présente 100 murales et autres pièces de street art peint créées en 2021 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 2021 pourraient ne pas y figurer.

Les pièces apparaissent ci-dessous en ordre alphabétique d’artiste/crew. Pour que la liste ne soit pas totalement accaparée par quelques artistes populaires, j’ai fixé un maximum de 4 pièces par personne. Les collaborations entre deux ou plusieurs artistes sur un même thème ne comptent que pour une entrée.

Voir aussi:
Retrospective 2021 street art collé et installations
Retrospective 2021 graffiti


Adida Fallen Angel‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Aldarwin on a fence in Hochelaga.

Alors painted dozens and dozens of her bright colourful flowers all over the city in 2021, here’s a double one found in Hochelaga.

Ankh One mural downtown.

Arpi‘s wall painted off the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Arpi in St-Henri.

Above 2 photos: two angles of a Arpi piece in St-Henri.

Art Du Commun mural in Lachine.

Art Du Commun mural in Pointe St-Charles.

Astro in Hochelaga.

Above 3 photos: Beaf and Mask collaboration in Lachine.
Beaf and Mask each also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti with solo graffiti pieces.

Omar Bernal‘s part in a multi-artist mural in Hochelaga.

Omar Bernal mural in Mercier.

Omar Bernal at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Omar Bernal in Verdun.

Bryan Beyung and MSHL collaboration in Pointe St-Charles.
Scroll down to the latter artist’s name as well as to ‘Gentil Crew’ for more work in this retrospective.

Detail of Bibi Una from a multi-artist mural in Hochelaga. The small character visible bottom left is by Max.

Bibi Una in a Plateau alley.

Birdo‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Mural Festival.

Mix of paint and mosaics by Borrris and Melanie Stuy in NDG.

Borrris in an abandoned building.

Borrris in an abandoned building.

Bosny‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.
Scroll down to ‘Gentil Crew’ for more work by Bosny in this retrospective.
He is also a graffiti artist and some of his letter work has made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Danae Brissonnet mural in the Village.

Above 2 photos: a pair of pieces by Cryote in the Plateau.

Raphael Dairon‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Deps at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Deps at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Deps at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

DMT in an abandoned tunnel.
A collaboration between him and Deep has made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti (under ‘Deep’).

Dodo Osé and LNK‘s collaboration for the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Dodo Osé in Lachine.
Dodo has also contributed to the K6A wall at Under Pressure and therefore appears in the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti (under ‘K6A’).

Ekes and Marchandise TT‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle

Ekes and Marchandise TT‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.
Ekes has of course made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Emerge mural in Petite-Patrie.

Eskro, Resok, Joh and Coler‘s collaboration for the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.
Eskro and Resok both have solo work into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Filco‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Filco in a Hochelaga alley.

Filco on the wall of a Villeray school.

Fleo‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.
Fleo is also a graffiti artist, find some of his letter work in the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti (solo under his name as well as in collaboration under ‘K6A’).

Fluke mural in Lasalle, assisted by Five Eight.

Above 2 photos: Pascal Foisy‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle. The first photo is the actual shot, the second one shows the piece in negative, as it was painted by the artist in reverse.

Viviane Fortin in Hochelaga.
She also appears on the Rude crew wall seen further down this list.

Frog in the Plateau.

Gallium featuring JKL Two on the blue dragon and a collaboration of Waxhead and Labrona on the door. In Villeray.
Scroll down to Waxhead and Labrona for more work by these artists in this retrospective. Waxhead also has work under ‘Grils’.

The Gentil Crew‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival featuring MSHL, Bosny, SBU One, Loopkin, Le Monstr, Diane Roe, Maylee Keo, Tshokodile and Nikki Küntzle. Check out the latter Under Pressure link for close-ups.
MSHL, Bosny, SBU One, Tshoko and Nikki Küntzle all have solo work in this retrospective, scroll to their names to view. Loopkin and Tshoko each have more work here under ‘Rude’, MSHL under ‘Beyung’ and Le Monstr under ‘MSHL’.

Grils in Hochelaga.

Grils in Ville Emard.

This huge Villeray mural was painted by multiple artists at the invitation of Grils and LNA.
Ground level from left to right: a snail by Grils over a background by LP Montoya, Hary on the box, a door by Waxhead surrounded by E’s from EK Sept, a platypus-like creature designed by Hozek and painted by Grils, the central character by LNA, a name piece by Hoar with a creature by Salamanca, and a lizard by Hary.
Upper level from left to right: a turbine-like creature by Alex Boya, a squirrel by Amer over a calligraphy background by Rizek and the rest all by Grils.
Hary also made it into this retrospective alongside his Lama brothers, scroll down to ‘Lama’ to view. Waxhead has more work here under his name and under ‘Gallium’. Scroll down to LNA for more work by this artist as well.
Grils, Hary, EK Sept, Hoar, Rizek and Amer also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti (Amer under ‘LTG’ and ‘TRU’, others under their name).

Hest in a Hochelaga alley.

Hest in a Rosemont alley.
Hest is one of this city’s best graffiti artist, it is no surprise that some of his letter work also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

I Hate Stencils stencil in St-Henri.

Izabelle Duguay mural in Mile Ex.

Tribute mural to Marie-Soleil Tougas by Jetset in St-Henri.

River June and Henri Papy collaboration for the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Nikki Küntzle‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Nikki Küntzle‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.
Scroll up to ‘Gentil Crew’ for more work by Nikki in this retrospective.

Labrona mural in Hochelaga.
Scroll up to ‘Gallium’ and down to ‘Waxhead’ for more work by Labrona in this retrospective.
Labrona is also a pasting artist, check out the Retrospective of 2021 pasted street art and installations for some wheatpastes.

Above 4 photos: Lama‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.
Hary from this collective also contributed to a huge wall in Villeray, scroll up to ‘Grils’ to view.

Kevin Ledo‘s mural in Petite-Patrie. The subject of the piece is his young child.

Lino in a Hochelaga alley.
Lino guested on the TRU wall at Under Pressure in 2021, check out the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti under ‘TRU’ to view.

Collaboration of LNA, Moule and Abir on a community centre in Côte des Neiges.
Moule has also contributed to the Rude crew wall at Canettes de Ruelle, scroll down to view that.
Both she and LNA made stickers in 2021, some of them have made it into the Retrospective of 2021 pasted street art and installations.

LNA in Villeray.
She painted the central character of a huge multi-artist wall in Villeray, scroll up to ‘Grils’ to view.

Lost Claws on a Plateau rooftop.

Lost Claws in Petite-Patrie.
Lost Claws is also a pasting artist, check out the Retrospective of 2021 pasted street art and installations for some wheatpastes.

Maliciouz‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Mart‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.
She has also contributed to the Rude crew wall at Canettes de Ruelle, scroll down to view.

Medusa in a Mile End alley.
She has also contributed to the Rude crew wall at Canettes de Ruelle, scroll down to view that.
Collaborations with Deep have made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti (under ‘Deep’).

Monk.e and Luvs‘ contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Monk.e‘s tribute to rapper Jeune Loup in Hochelaga.

Monk.e in Rosemont.

Monk.e in the Plateau.
He has also painted calligraphy as a background to a mural by Turf One, scroll down to view.
Being one of this city’s best graffiti artist, some of his letter work is also found in the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Mono Sourcil in Hochelaga.
She has also contributed to the Rude crew wall at Canettes de Ruelle, scroll down to view that.

MSHL and Le Monstr collaboration in Hochelaga.
Both artists have contributed to the Gentil crew wall at Under Pressure, scroll up to view.

MSHL mural in Ville-Marie.
MSHL also collaborated on a mural with Bryan Beyung in this retrospective, scroll up to view.

This collaboration of Origami Explorateur, Allegoria, Her and 3CLO5 at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel on the 50th anniversary of the death of Jim Morrison had people constantly stopping to take photos.
Her has also contributed to the Rude crew wall at Canettes de Ruelle, scroll down to view that.

Above 2 photos: Julian Palma‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Pane and Regar‘s collaboration for the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Pane and Regar in an abandoned building.
Pane also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Paynt in a Hochelaga alley.
Paynt also contributed to the LTG/POM/H2K wall at Under Pressure which has made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Above 3 photos: this year Peru143 painted this long Hochelaga wall with what is now the longest mural in Canada (there is barely any overlap in the 3 shots above, they add up to the complete 150-meter wall).
Peru also collaborated with Zek and Deep on a huge mural in this retrospective, scroll down to Zek’s name to see.

Polographe painted a number of fantastic creatures at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel in 2021. It would be nice now to see him move to painting murals that would stay a bit longer!

Polographe at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Repus

Above 2 photos: the all-female Rude Crew wall for the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle (in 2 shots because it is very long) featuring, from left to right, Tshokodile, Loopkin, Her, Mart, Medusa, Moule, Kawaz (on ‘Rude’ header), Lora, Mono Sourcil, Sam’19, Mos Geez, Viviane Fortin.
Tshoko, Mart, Medusa, Mono Sourcil and Viviane Fortin all have solo work in this retrospective, scroll to their names to view. Loopkin and Tshoko contributed to the Gentil Crew wall above. Her collaborated on a wall with Origami Explorateur while Moule collaborated with LNA, scroll up to see each one of these collaborations.

Double layers of SBU One on a bridge pillar.
SBU also contributed to the Gentil Crew wall higher up in this list.
He also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Seork‘s part on a space-themed multi-artist mural in the Plateau.
Seork also contributed to the LTG/POM/H2K wall at Under Pressure which has made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Rafael Sottolichio‘s huge downtown mural painted with assistance from Bosny, Nikki Küntzle, MSHL, Diane Roe and Julian Palma, amongst others.

Tshokodile in an abandoned building.
She has collaborated on the Gentil crew and the Rude crew walls above, scroll up for that.
She has also contributed to the TRU wall at Under Pressure which has made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Above 2 photos: Turf One over a calligraphy background by Monk.e in Petite-Patrie.
Monk.e has solo work in this retrospective, scroll up to his name to view that.

Waxhead featuring Labrona on the door, in a Plateau alley.

Waxhead and Labrona collaboration in a Plateau alley.
These artists have another collaboration in this retrospective, scroll up to ‘Gallium’ to view. Waxhead also painted a door in a multi-artist production visible under ‘Grils’. Labrona also made it into this retrospective with a solo mural, see it under this name.

Benny Wilding in Petite-Patrie.
He is one of this city’s finest graffiti artists and has made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti (under ‘Cemz’).

Sophie Wilkins and Anik Favreau in Rosemont.

Zek mural in NDG with Peru143 on colour letters as well as Deep.
Peru also painted a solo wall which made it into this retrospective, scroll up to view.
Zek and Deep are both also graffiti artists and have made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti with letter pieces.

Zek mural in Ville-Marie.

Zen in Rosemont.

Zen in a Plateau alley.
Zen is also a master of 3D graffiti and some of his work has made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

A mandala-style mural featuring some graffiti by Zep in Rosemont.
A name piece by Zep has made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Zola‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.
Zola is also a pasting artist, check out the Retrospective of 2021 pasted street art and installations for some wheatpastes.

Retrospective of 2021 pasted street art and installations

This image gallery brings together 100 pieces of Montreal street art from 2021 that were created in a studio, then pasted, glued, screwed in or cemented into a public place. 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 name. To ensure that the list wasn’t filled with only work from a few popular artists, I have set a maximum of 4 pieces per person. Collaborations by two or more artists count as one entry.

See also:
Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art
Retrospective of 2021 graffiti

Cette galerie-photo présente 100 pièces de street art produites en 2021 à Montréal, créées en studio avant d’être collées, vissées ou fixées dans le ciment dans un endroit public. 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 2021 pourraient ne pas y figurer.

Les pièces apparaissent ci-dessous en ordre alphabétique de nom d’artiste. Pour que cette liste ne soit pas totalement accaparée par quelques artistes populaires, j’ai fixé un maximum de 4 pièces par personne. Les collaborations entre deux ou plusieurs artistes ne comptent que pour une entrée.

Voir aussi:
Retrospective 2021 murales et autre street art peint
Retrospective 2021 graffiti


Above 2: context shot and close-up on an installation by Adi in the Quartier des Spectacles.
Adi has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 graffiti.

Poster signed “Artist?” found in the Plateau.

Poster by Cam found in Hochelaga.

Poster by Cam found in Mile End

Paste-up by Cat’n’Paste in the Plateau.

Paste-up by Cat’n’Paste in the Plateau.

Paste-up by Cat’n’Paste in Mile End.

Large wheatpaste by Nivanh Chanthara in Parc-Ex.

Poster by Chat Perdu addressing the subject of the death of First Nations kids in the government’s residential schools.

Wheatpaste by CSRK in Mile End.

Wheatpaste by CSRK in Mile End.

Wheatpaste by CSRK in Petite-Patrie.

Wheatpaste by CSRK in Petite-Patrie.

Dodo Urbain has been putting this wheatpaste of a homeless person on street corners and other spots where homeless people hang out.

Paste-up by Ekie, many variations spotted.

Poster by l’Enfant Libre found in Mile End.

Paste-up by Irritated Eye found in the Plateau.

Installation made from reclaimed materials by Junko. This one was found in Côte des Neiges. Check out the latter link for more photos and a video.

Installation made from reclaimed materials by Junko. This one was found in Hochelaga. Check out the latter link for more photos and a video.

Installation made from reclaimed materials by Junko. This one was found in Mile End. Check out the latter link for more photos and a video.

Installation made of wood and plant parts by Junko in Hochelaga. Check out the latter link for more photos.

Wheatpaste by Faynïx Jutras found in Hochelaga.

Wheatpaste by Faynïx Jutras found in Hochelaga.

Wheatpaste by Faynïx Jutras found in Hochelaga.

Wheatpaste by Faynïx Jutras found in Hochelaga.

Labrona paste-up in Hochelaga.

Labrona paste-up in Hochelaga.

Labrona paste-up in Hochelaga.

Labrona paste-up in Hochelaga.
Labrona has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Paste-up by Life In The Streets found in the Plateau; many variations exist.

LNA sticker.

LNA sticker.
LNA has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Lost Claws wheatpaste found in the Plateau.

Lost Claws wheatpaste found in the Plateau.

Lost Claws wheatpaste found in the Plateau.

Lost Claws wheatpaste found in the Plateau.
Lost Claws has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Small poster by LSNR found in Hochelaga.

Paste-up by LSNR found in Hochelaga.

Madame Gilles poster, many locations.

Madame Gilles poster, many locations.

Madame Gilles poster, many locations.

Madame Gilles poster, many locations.

Maika wheatpaste found in the Plateau.

Maika wheatpaste found in the Plateau.

Maika poster found in the Plateau.

Maika wheatpaste found in Rosemont.

Makenoize installation in Mile End.

One of many smiley paste-ups by Makenoize, this one was found in the South West.

Makenoize installation in the South West

Above 2: close-up and context shot of Makenoize‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Sugar paste-up by Shelley Miller. I unfortunately missed most of her pieces this year as the rain got to them before I did.

Trio of paste-ups by the Mistake Project. Many variations on this Tintin and Milou piece were found.

Mistake Project paste-up found in the Quartier des Spectacles.

Mistake Project paste-up, many locations.

Hand drawn sticker by Moule.

Hand drawn sticker by Moule.
Moule has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Paste-up by Myl found in the Plateau.

Large poster by Emile Picard found in Mile End.

Large poster by Emile Picard found in Mile End.

Large poster by Emile Picard found in Mile End.

Poster by le Pleurnicheur in Mile End.

Poster by le Pleurnicheur in Mile End.

Poster by le Pleurnicheur in the Plateau.

Poster by le Pleurnicheur in the Plateau.

Paste-up by Raveillée found in the Plateau.

Set of posters by Stay Beautiful.

Poster by Stay Beautiful.

Large wheatpaste by Stella Peaches, the young daughter of Stikki Peaches.

Large set of wheatpastes by Stella Peaches, the young daughter of Stikki Peaches who also made it into this retrospective (see below).

Set of paste-ups by Ste-Martyre d’Hochelaga.

Stikki Peaches wheatpaste downtown.

Stikki Peaches wheatpaste in Mile End.

Stikki Peaches wheatpaste in Petite-Patrie.

Stikki Peaches wheatpaste in the Village.

Styyyro foam board installation found in the Plateau.

Swarm wheatpaste in Outremont.

Swarm wheatpaste in Parc Ex.

Set of posters by Teetz in the Plateau.

Teetz wheatpaste in the Quartier des Spectacles.

Teetz wheatpaste in Mile End.

Teetz wheatpaste in the South West.

Toto paste-up in the Plateau.

Trippy Yaya paste-up in the Plateau.

One of many cone paste-ups by Valid.

Victor Devenir paste-up found in various locations.

Wansoy paste-up found in the Plateau.

Above 2: WhatIsAdam wheatpaste in Ahuntsic. This was an evolving piece as the artist added to it after the Montreal Canadiens won their way up towards the Stanley Cup finals. Displayed above are 2 versions of it.

Zola wheatpaste in Mile End.

Zola wheatpaste in Mile Ex.

Zola whatpaste in Outremont.

Zola wheatpaste in Mile End.br>
Zola has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Zyk paste-up in Mile End.

Zyk paste-up in Mile End.

Above 3 photos: shots of a gargoyle installation by an unidentified artist on an abandoned gas station.

Paste-up by an unidentified Hochelaga artist who puts up pieces showing people from the neighbourhood. Another piece by this unidentified artist is found below. Also visible in this shot is an origami by Origami Explorateur.

Paste-up by an unidentified Hochelaga artist who puts up pieces showing people from the neighbourhood. Another piece by this unidentified artist is found above it.

Poster by an unidentified artist found in the Plateau.

Paste-up by an unidentified artist found in the Quartier des Spectacles.

Rug installation by an unidentified artist. Found in Mile End. Some street artists as well as graffiti writers are getting into this medium, I would expect to see more of this in the coming year.

Paste-up by an unidentified artist.

Retrospective of 2021 graffiti

This image gallery brings together 200 great pieces of Montreal graffiti from 2021. 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 2021 murals and other painted street art
Retrospective of 2021 pasted street art and installations

Cette galerie-photo présente 200 pièces de graffiti produites en 2021 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 2021 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 2021 murales et autre street art peint
Retrospective 2021 street art collé et installations


Acek‘s truck side for the 2021 edition of Hip Hop You Don’t Stop.

Acrow‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.
Also visible above is an installation by Makenoize who has made it into the Retrospective of 2021 pasted street art and installations with other installations.

Adi in an abandoned funeral home.

Adi in an abandoned building.
Adi also contributed to the TRU crew wall at Under Pressure, scroll down to view that.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 pasted street art and installations.

Amon in Rosemont.

Aper‘s tribute to MF Doom in a McGill ghetto alley.

Arrow in Pierrefonds.

Art Gang’s Senck and Snipes contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival featuring a piece by Cemz at ground level.
All three writers also have solo work in this retrospective, scroll down to view.

Ason in an abandoned building.

Ason in a flooded and iced over collapsed basement.

Ason in an abandoned tunnel.

Axe Lalime at the PSC legal graffiti wall.
Axe also contributed to the K6A wall at Under Pressure, scroll down to view.

Bacer

Beaf’s contribution to the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Beast

Bosny and Jmoe’s collaboration for the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.

Bosny in an abandoned building.

Double layer of Bosny on a bridge pillar.
Bosny has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art, in solo and with the Gentil Crew.

Bumpr‘s contribution to the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.

Above 4: Full wall and close-ups of a great production featuring Cemz, Zek, Senck and Snipes in the Plateau.
Cemz, Senck and Snipes also worked together on the Art Gang wall at Under Pressure, scroll up to view. Zek, Senck and Snipes also have solo work in this retrospective, scroll down to see that.

Cemz in Ahuntsic.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art under the name Benny Wilding.

Crane on letters and Rouks on character in Pointe St-Charles.

Trackside Crops.

Above 2: Dare full car.

Deep on letters and DMT on owl, in Ville-Marie.
Both have also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art, DMT in solo and Deep in a collaboration with Zek (listed under ‘Zek’).

Deep on letters and Hly aka Medusa on character in a Hochelaga alley. Also featuring Repus bottom left.

Deep and Medusa‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.
Medusa has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Dems in a Petite-Patrie alley.

Deps tried his hand to 3D graffiti in 2021. This piece was done at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Desr at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Dfek in Rosemont.

Dfek at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.
He also has made it into this retrospective with a collaboration with Zen, scroll down to view.

Drif.
Scroll down to Nesar for more by Drif in this retrospective.

EK Sept in a Rosemont alley.

EK Sept in a Rosemont alley.
He has also contributed to the LTG / POM / H2K wall at Under Pressure, scroll down to ‘LTG’ to view.
He also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art, under ‘Grils’.

Ekes in an abandoned building.

Ekes on an abandoned wall in the forest.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Ekler‘s contribution to the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.

Ekler in Rosemont.

Eskro in Rosemont.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Estyk on the side of a highway ramp.

F.One in Mercier.
A HSP crew wall featuring F.One also made it into this retrospective, scroll down to view.

Fake in an abandoned building.

Fasi, Pinto, Max, Pest and perhaps more on this section of a multi-artist wall in Hochelaga.

Fault writing Maraud in graffiti alley.

Fioke in an abandoned building.

Fleo at the PSC legal graffiti wall.
Fleo contributed to the K6A crew wall at Under Pressure, scroll down to view.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Ofusk in an abandoned building.

Ofusk in a Hochelaga alley.

Ofusk writing INSPIRE in Petite-Patrie. Notice the real and painted wood.

Gaulois in Rosemont.

Gaulois in Rosemont.

Giles on an abandoned community centre.

Giles and Syloe representing MG.

Grils in Rosemont.

Grils in Villeray.
He has also contributed to the LTG / POM / H2K wall at Under Pressure, scroll down to ‘LTG’ to view.
He of course has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Haks at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Haks in the Plateau.
He has also contributed to the LTG / POM / H2K wall at Under Pressure, scroll down to ‘LTG’ to view.

Hary in a Rosemont alley.
Hary has work alongside his Lama brothers as well as a contribution to a multi-artist wall make it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art (under ‘Lama’ and under ‘Grils’).

Heras in Rosemont.

Hest and Wuna‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Canettes de Ruelle. Also visible above are Hob and le Renard Fou.
Wuna and Hob each have solo entries in this retrospective, scroll down to view.

Hest‘s contribution to the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.

Hest in a Rosemont alley.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Hoar in a Hochelaga alley.

Hoar in Villeray.
He has also contributed to the LTG / POM / H2K wall at Under Pressure, scroll down to ‘LTG’ to view.
He also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art, under ‘Grils’.

Hob in an abandoned building.

House

Above 4: Full shot followed by close-ups of the individual pieces of a HSP crew session in Rosemont featuring F.One, Fomer and Ewol.
F.One also has a solo piece in this retrospective, scroll up to view.

Jaker and Legal collaboration in the Plateau.
Legal also has 2 solo pieces in this retrospective, scroll down to view.

Jaker in a Hochelaga alley.

Jaker in a Ahuntsic alley.

Jask at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Jefa in an abandoned building.

Joule at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

June is a master of those hard to reach spots, here he is on the chimney of a long abandoned building.

The K6A crew‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival featuring Serak, Fleo, Sank, Dodo Osé, Saer, Axe Lalime, Otak and Royal. Check out the latter Under Pressure festival link for close-ups.
Serak, Fleo, Sank, Axe and Royal all have solo pieces in this retrospective, scroll to their names to view.
Solo figurative work by Dodo Osé and by Fleo also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Kaps at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Killa EF‘S contribution to a great prod in Petite-Patrie.

Trackside Killa EF.

Killa EF ripping off the Rizla logo.

Klew in Rosemont.

The 123 Klan’s Klor in Rosemont.

The 123 Klan’s Klor in the Plateau.

The 123 Klan’s Klor in Rosemont.

Korb in Rosemont

Korb at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Kores at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Kwun in a Rosemont alley.

Kwun

Legal in a Ahuntsic alley.

Legal in an abandoned building.
Scroll up to Jake for more work by Legal in this retrospecitive.

Louis Letters in an abandoned funeral home.

Louis Letters in an abandoned building.
Louis also contributed to the TRU crew wall at Under Pressure, scroll down to ‘TRU’ to view that.

The LTG/POM/H2K wall for the 2021 edition of Under Pressure featuring EK Sept, Grils, Hoar, Paynt, Seork, Hozek, Rizek, Haks and Amer. Check out the latter Under Pressure Festival link for close-ups.
EK Sept, Grils, Hoar, Rizek and Haks all have solo walls in this retrospective, scroll to their names to see. Amer also contributed to the TRU crew wall, scroll down to ‘TRU’ for that.
Paynt, Seork, Grils have also made it in solo into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art, while EK Sept, Hoar, Rizek and Amer also did, under ‘Grils’.

Makes in Pointe St-Charles.

Makes‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Maniak in Rosemont.

Maniak at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.
A character by Maniak appears in the photo of a Resok piece in this retrospective, scroll down to view.

Maps in Hochelaga.

Mask in Lachine.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art with a collaboration with Beaf.

Maysr in Mile End.

Medor in an abandoned building.

Highwayside Meow.

Highwayside Meow.

Trackside Meow.

Merv at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Metz in an abandoned building.
A piece by someone from the Ten’s crew presumed to be Metz also made it into this retrospective. Scroll down to Ten’s Crew to view.

Micer in Rosemont.

Micer in an abandoned building.

Monet on a half abandoned building in Ahuntsic.

Monet

Presumably Monet doing the name of his 90s crew. Also visible above is Gabr who also happens to be in that crew.

Monk.e in a Mile End alley.

Monk.e in a Rosemont alley.

Monk.e on letters below mostly figurative work by Grils, in Villeray.
Grils has made it into this retrospective with solo work as well as his contribution to the LTG / POM / H2K wall at Under Pressure, scroll up to see.
Both have also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art with solo work and collaborations.

Moris in an abandoned building.

Myrage in an abandoned building.

Naimo at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Naimo‘s contribution to the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.

Neon at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Nero in an abandoned building.

Above 4 photos: full Nesar, Crash and Drif production in Mercier followed by individual pieces.
Drif also has solo work in this retrospective, scroll up to his name to see.

Nesar

Noper in Rosemont.

Nor in an abandoned building.

Nor

Pane in Rosemont.

Pane in an abandoned building.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Peace in a Ahuntsic alley.

Peace in a Rosemont alley.

Peack in Rosemont.

Peyo (top left) and Peack‘s (bottom right) collaboration for the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Peyo at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Pito in an abandoned building.

Pito in a Hochelaga alley.

Pito‘s part in a fiery production in Petite-Patrie.

Psycho in Mile End.

Psycho visible from a network of highways.

Rains at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Rains at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel right after it had been completely stripped of years of layers of paint and brought back to the original concrete.

Resok in Rosemont.

Resok in Rosemont featuring a character by Maniak who also has name pieces in this retrospective, scroll up to his name to view.

Resok at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art with a figurative collaboration with Eskro and other artists (listed under ‘Eskro’).

Riok at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Riot in an abandoned building.

Riot in graffiti alley.

Rival in an abandoned building.

Rival on an abandoned gas station.

Rizek in a Hochelaga alley.

Rizek in Villeray.
He has also contributed to the LTG / POM / H2K wall at Under Pressure, scroll up to ‘LTG’ to view.
He also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art, under ‘Grils’.

Royal at the PSC legal graffiti wall.
He has also contributed to the K6A crew wall at Under Pressure, scroll up to ‘K6A’ to view.

Salé in a Rosemont alley.

Sank at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.
He has also guested on the K6A crew wall at Under Pressure, scroll up to ‘K6A’ to view.

Sawr at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

SBU One at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art, in solo and with the Gentil Crew.

Sceak in Rosemont.

Sceak at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Schn in Rosemont.

The 123 Klan’s Scien in Rosemont.

The 123 Klan’s Scien in the Plateau.

The 123 Klan’s Scien in Rosemont.

Senck in Lachine.
Scroll up to Art Gang and to Cemz for more work by Senck in this retrospective.

Serak in a Mile End alley.

Highwayside Serak.
He has also contributed to the K6A crew wall at Under Pressure, scroll up to ‘K6A’ to view.

Serum in a Plateau alley.

Shok in Ahuntsic.

Shok in Ahuntsic.

Shrek at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Simply in a Plateau alley.

Smak in Ville-Marie.

Smak (top), Sober (bottom) and Tchug‘s (character) contribution to the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.
Tchug also has a letter piece in this retrospective, scroll down for that.

Snipes in Côte des Neiges.

Snipes in graffiti alley. Scroll up to Art Gang for more by Snipes.

Snok in Lachine.

Soma

Some in Hochelaga.

Stare in the Plateau.

Swik in Rosemont.

Tans on an abandoned community centre.

Tchug in Rosemont.
Scroll up to Smak for more by Tchug in this retrospective.

Someone representing Ten’s crew, perhaps Metz, at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.
Incidently, Metz has a piece in this retrospective, scroll up to view.

Timer in Rosemont.

The TRU crew wall for the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival featuring Louis Letters, Adi, Kamzer, Tshoko, Boris, Dosk, Amer and guest Lino. Check out the latter Under Pressure link for close-ups.
Adi and Louis Letters both have solo work in this retrospective, scroll up to view. Amer has also contributed to the LTG / POM / H2K wall at Under Pressure, scroll up to see.
Tshoko and Lino both have work make it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art while Amer is also in the latter retrospective under ‘Grils’.

Tuna at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Vaper in a flooded and iced collapsed basement.

Voguer in Rosemont.

Wonez in an abandoned building.

Wonez in an abandoned building.

Worm on an abandoned community centre.

Wuna‘s contribution to the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.

Wuna at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.
A collaboration between Wuna and Hest also made it into this retrospective, scroll up to Hest’s name to view.

Zek‘s contribution to the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.

Zek‘s part in a fiery production in Petite-Patrie.
Scroll up to Cemz’s name for more by Zek in this retrospective.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Zen in Rosemont.

Zen at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Above 2: Dfek (top photo, left section) and Zen (bottom photo, right section), on a long wall in a Plateau alley.
Dfek has 2 solo pieces in this retrospective, scroll up to view.

Zep in Rosemont.
He has also made it into the Retrospective of 2021 murals and other painted street art.

Zer’s contribution to the 2021 graffiti jam in Lachine.

Zonek’s tribute to Nes who passed away this year.

Zonek full car.

Under Pressure Festival 2021

Here’s a photo gallery featuring all the works produced during the 2021 edition of the Under Pressure Festival. As in 2020, walls were not all painted on the same weekend because of social restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the walls were painted over a few weeks in August. For other editions, see the general Under Pressure Festival page.

Cet article-photo présente les oeuvres produites au cours de l’édition 2021 du Festival Under Pressure. Tout comme en 2020, les murs n’ont pas été peints au cours de la même fin de semaine dans le but de respecter les restrictions sociales découlant de la pandémie de Covid-19. Ceci étant dit, la majorité des murs ont été peints en août. Pour les autres éditions, voir la page générale du Festival Under Pressure.


Street poster.

Monk.e (mostly left) and Toronto’s Luvs (mostly right).

The LTG/POM/H2K wall featuring EK Sept, Grils, Hoar, Paynt, Seork, Hozek, Rizek, Haks and Amer. See close-ups below.

Close-up on Haks (blue letters) and Rizek‘s (buildings) parts on the LTG/POM/H2K wall above.

Close-up on Amer‘s piece on the LTG/POM/H2K wall above. Amer also contributed to the TRU crew wall, scroll down to view.

Close-up on Paynt (cowboy) and Seork‘s (pig) parts on the LTG/POM/H2K wall above.

Close-up on Hozek (character), EK Sept (blue letters) and Grils‘ (buildings) parts on the LTG/POM/H2K wall above.

Close-up on Hoar‘s piece on the LTG/POM/H2K wall above.

Art Gang’s Senck and Snipes featuring a Cemz piece at ground level.

The Gentil Crew‘s contribution featuring MSHL, Bosny, SBU One, Loopkin, Le Monstr, Diane Roe, Maylee Keo, Tshoko and Nikki Küntzle. Fenceless shot and close-ups below.

The Gentil Crew‘s contribution featuring MSHL, Bosny, SBU One, Loopkin, Le Monstr, Diane Roe, Maylee Keo, Tshoko and Nikki Küntzle. Context shot above and close-ups below. Nikki and Tshoko both have more work in this post, scroll down to view Nikki’s solo wall and Tshoko’s part on the TRU crew wall.

Close-up 1/7 of the above Gentil Crew wall showing Bosny (bottom left) and MSHL (top right).

Close-up 2/7 of the above Gentil Crew wall showing Loopkin (top left) and Le Monstr (bottom right).

Close-up 3/7 of the above Gentil Crew wall showing (top to bottom, left to right) Tshoko, Diane Roe, Nikki Küntzle, MSHL, Loopkin, Maylee Keo and Le Monstr.

Close-up 4/7 of the above Gentil Crew wall featuring (top to bottom, left to right) Bosny, SBU One, Diane Roe and Tshoko.

Close-up 5/7 of the above Gentil Crew wall featuring (left to right) Tshoko(?), MSHL, Bosny and Nikki Küntzle.

Close-up 6/7 of the above Gentil Crew wall featuring Loopkin (left), Maylee Keo, Tshoko, Le Monstr, Nikki Küntzle and MSHL (right).

Close-up 7/7 of the above Gentil Crew wall showing SBU One.

The full K6A crew wall featuring Serak, Fleo, Sank, Dodo Osé, Saer, Axe Lalime, Otak and Royal. See close-ups below.

Close-up on Serak and Fleo‘s parts on the K6A crew wall above.

Close-up on Sank and Dodo Osé‘s parts on the K6A crew wall above.

Close-up on Saer and Axe Lalime‘s parts on the K6A crew wall above.

Close-up on Otak and Royal‘s parts on the K6A crew wall above.

Tru crew wall featuring Louis Letters, Adi, Kamzer, Tshoko, Boris, Dosk, Amer, Bonga and Lino. See close-ups below.

Close-up on Louis Letters (above) and Adi (below) on the TRU crew wall above.

Close-up on the TRU crew wall above. Louis Letters designed this logo and it was painted by various members of the crew.

Close-up on Dosk (above) and Boris (below) on the TRU crew wall above.

Close-up on the parts of Kamzer, Tshoko, Amer, Bonga and Lino on the TRU crew wall above. Tshoko also contributed to the Gentil Crew wall while Amer also contributed to the LTG/POM/H2K wall, scroll up to view.

Little bonus to the above Tru crew wall. This door with the names of the TRU crew members was done by Louis Letters.

Adida Fallen Angel

Peyo (top left) and Peack (bottom right).

Ekes and Marchandise TT.

Mad Rats‘ Gaulois and Cleo. Until I can get my own unobstructed shot, this photo © Gaulois.

Makes

Nikki Küntzle. Nikki also contributed to the Gentil Crew wall above.

Deep (letters) and Medusa (character). This is not the definite shot, I will get one when construction in front of this wall is completed.

Omar Bernal. Alternate shots below.

Omar Bernal. Alternate shots above and below.

Omar Bernal. Alternate shots above.

Acrow (letters) and Makenoize (smiley face paste-up). Scroll down for more by Makenoize at the bottom of this post.

Mart

Raphael Dairon

Resok, Eskro, Joh and Coler on the terrasse of the Foufounes Electriques.

Riok

Jasp

Mos Geez

La Rue

Mr Hydde

Micer‘s tribute to Cazer who passed away shortly before the festival.

Simply

Done

Flavor

Makenoize installation. Context shot below.

Makenoize. Close-up above. Scroll up for another installation by this artist.

Mural Festival 2021

The 2021 edition of Mural Festival, held from 12 to 22 August, was unfortunately less about the murals and more about shows and concerts. Publicity about the event was geared mostly towards these paying events and not much about the visual art and artists.

For the first time since the beginning of the festival, no murals were done on site for people coming to see artists at work, except for Birdo’s in the VIP area, which was only accessible to paying visitors. The only other mural of this edition was the one designed by Teddy Kelly and executed by Jamie Janx, Arnold and William Marceau-Briggs two months after the festival. The Hotel St-Germain downtown had its front painted by Michelle Hoogveld a few weeks before the festival. The ground of a basketball court in Little Italy was painted by Francorama also some time before the event took place.

The other artists on the bill were hired for non-street art creations, such as Marie-Pier Primeau who painted the walls of a private gym’s pool. The talents of Julian Palma Luque, Garbage Beauty’s Monsieur Boz and Zoe Gelfant were unfortunately wasted on painting sponsored bars, picnic tables and furniture in and around the paying zone instead of murals.

The great aspect of the 2021 edition was Mural’s incursion into virtual public art, with famous local street artists Waxhead and Cryote as well as Samuel Arsenault-Brassard and Iregular. They created virtual pieces only visible through the festival’s app. Cryote also virtually created pieces live as they were being projected on a screen for the guests in the paying area to see.

You may want to check out this walking tour map connecting all Mural Festival creations and other major murals in the area.

L’édition 2021 du Festival Mural, tenue du 12 au 22 août, a été malheureusement axée sur les spectacles et concerts plutôt que les murales. D’ailleurs, la publicité de l’événement mettaient principalement de l’avant le programme d’événements payants tels que ces concert et très peu les artistes visuels.

Pour la première fois depuis la création du festival les visiteurs n’ont pas pu voir d’artistes à l’oeuvre créant leur murale, sauf celle de Birdo dans la section VIP, mais celle-ci était inaccessible sans payer. La seule autre murale de l’édition 2021 a été celle conçue par Teddy Kelly et exécutée deux mois plus tard par Jamie Janx, Arnold Vincent et William Marceau-Briggs. L’Hôtel Germain au centre-ville a été repeint par Michelle Hoogveld quelques semaines avant le début du festival. Le sol d’un terrain de basketball de la Petite Italie a aussi été peint par Francorama quelques temps avant la tenue du festival.

Les autres artistes prévus au programme n’ont pas été engagés pour du street art. Marie-Pier Primeau a peint les murs d’une piscine d’un gym privé. Les talents de Julian Palma Luque, Monsieur Boz de Garbage Beauty et Zoe Gelfant ont malheureusement été gaspillés à peindre des murets de bars et des tables de picnic dans la zone payante ou devant celle-ci, plutôt que des murales.

Un bon coup des organisateurs du festival a été l’ajout d’un nouveau volet virtuel grâce à la participation des artistes Waxhead et Cryote, tous deux bien connus dans le milieu du street art montréalais, ainsi que Samuel Arsenault-Brassard et Iregular. Ces artistes ont créé des pièces virtuelles seulement visible via l’application du festival. Cryote a aussi créé des oeuvres virtuelles live, projetées sur un écran pour les visiteurs dans la section payante du festival.

Vous êtes invités à jeter un coup d’oeil à cet itinéraire pédestre reliant toutes les murales produites dans le cadre de toutes les éditions du Festival ainsi que les autres créations majeures dans le même quartier.


This awesome mural by Toronto’s Birdo was the only one done during the festival, unfortunately only visible to paying users during its creation.

This building front was designed by Teddy Kelly and executed in October following the festival by Jamie Janx, Arnold Vincent and William Marceau-Briggs.

This installation by June Barry served as an entrance through which paying visitors could access the VIP area.

Michelle Hoogveld painted the front of the Hotel Germain before the beginning of the festival.

Extra shot showing the side of the Hotel Germain painted by Michelle Hoogveld before the festival.

Francorama painted the ground of this Little Italy basketball court shortly before the festival happened. Photo © abcdf.ca

Julian Palma Luque on a terrasse side wall which was unfortunately in the paying area and hidden behind material following its completion. Photo © JF Galipeau.

One more angle of Julian Palma Luque‘s contribution to this year’s edition. Photo © JF Galipeau.

Zoe Gelfant painted the sides of this sponsored bar area as well as its picnic tables as the festival took place.

One more angle of Zoe Gelfant‘s contribution to the 2021 edition of Mural.

Also on the 2021 Mural Festival bill:
– Marie-Pier Primeau painted the walls of the pool area of a private gym.
– Drew Young was meant to paint another downtown hotel, but this seems to have been canceled.
Monsieur Boz from Garbage Beauty was also on the bill, it is unclear if he has ended up painting for the festival or not.
Waxhead, Cryote, Samuel Arsenault-Brassard and Iregular created virtual art.

Canettes de Ruelle 2020

This image gallery brings together photos of all the pieces created for the 4th edition of Canettes de Ruelle. Because of the restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this 2020 edition was on a much smaller scale than the ones that came before it. Most of the walls painted in 2020 were in the alley south of Masson, between 5th and 6th avenues.

Cette gallerie-photo présente toutes les oeuvres créées dans le contexte de la 4e édition du festival Canettes de Ruelle. A cause des restrictions découlant de la pandémie de Covid-19, l’édition 2020 s’est déroulée à une plus petite échelle que les éditions précédentes. La plupart des murs peints en 2020 se trouvaient dans la ruelle sud de Masson, entre la 5e et la 6e Avenue.


Above 3 photos: collaboration of Cyndie Belhumeur, Alexis Vaillancourt and Izabelle Duguay over two perpendicular walls; full shot and frontal shots of each side. Le Renard Fou‘s rooftop piece is also visible in the first shot, scroll down for a proper photo of it.

Grils on garage doors and Louis Letters on awning.

Zoltan on the left, Bosny on the right and Louis Letters on awning.

Ekes

Above 3 photos: Nikki Kuntzle (left) and Caitlin McDonagh (right). First shot shows both walls and the two others are frontal photos of each.

Kor, Seano, MSH and perhaps more on a rooftop.

Julian Palma

Lora

Hob. Also visible far left is a small throw by Lora.

Romy

Swarm

A rare painted piece by Zola. It was vandalised soon after by someone who disagreed with the message (and who also assumed the artist was a man!), see below for Zola’s clever retort with a wheatpaste.

Zola‘s clever answer to the anonymous person who vandalised her contribution.

Zola‘s second contribution to this edition of the festival was this wheatpaste.

Le Renard Fou‘s rooftop piece. My ground level shot was not the best, so instead here’s this photo © Olivier Bousquet.

Louis Letters, Tshoko and Adi. This is the only new wall not in the same alley as all the others. It is one block East in the alley south of Masson between 6th and 7th avenues.

The 203 crew’s contribution to the previous year’s edition of the festival was slightly tweaked with addition of Cler (bottom right) to the previous year’s line-up of Ekes, Borrris, Lyfer, Algue and Flying Eric. This wall is also out of the 2020 festival zone, it is two blocks East in the alley south of Masson between 7th and 8th avenues.

Lorem Ipsum did the calligraphy on the front of the festival’s pop-up shop / headquarters.

Retrospective of 2020 murals and other painted street art

This image gallery brings together 100 great murals and other painted street art pieces from 2020. 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 artists, I have set a maximum of 4 pieces per artist. Collaborations by two or more artists count as one entry.

See also:
Retrospective of 2020 pasted street art
Retrospective of 2020 graffiti

Cette galerie-photo présente 100 murales et autres pièces de street art peint créées en 2020 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 2020 pourraient ne pas y figurer.

Les pièces apparaissent ci-dessous en ordre alphabétique d’artiste/crew. Pour que la liste ne soit pas totalement accaparée par quelques artistes populaires, j’ai fixé un maximum de 4 pièces par personne. Les collaborations entre deux ou plusieurs artistes sur un même thème ne comptent que pour une entrée.

Voir aussi:
Retrospective 2020 street art collé
Retrospective 2020 graffiti


Above 3 photos: As in many other cities around the world, a huge Black Lives Matter street piece was done in Montreal. In French, “La vie des noir.e.s compte” was produced by Gala Dynastie and Never Was Average and painted by multiple artists, one artist per letter (including street artists Maliciouz on the ‘N’ and Mins on the third ‘E’).

A Black Lives Matter mural by a collective of anonymous artists on the boarded up Apple Store downtown.

Abir has been blending her art into earlier pieces by various artists at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel including that of Adida Fallen Angel as pictured here. Scroll down to the end of this post for more by Abir as she participated in the Taqueria production featured there.

Deep dish piece by Adida Fallen Angel at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Above 3 photos: A long Hochelaga production featuring Aldarwin on the long colourful fence and background, Omar Bernal on the whale and Origami Explorateur on the bird. Scroll down for more by Aldarwin and Omar under ‘Grils’ and in the Taqueria post at the end of this post. Origami Explorateur was also involved in the Taqueria production at the end of this post. Omar and Origami Explorateur both have solo works, scroll down to their names to view.

A pair of pieces by Alfalfa (left) and Pupila (right), in Rosemont.

Breonna Taylor portrait by Ali K in Mile End. The background behind Breonna is by Khaled Jaafar and on the left by Random Ice And Cactus.

Above 4 photos: the 4 sides of a shed on the Lachine Canal, by Ankh One.

Astro in a Verdun alley.

Portrait of Zombie Boy by Awie in St-Henri.

After a young boy named Liam was struck and killed crossing the street in St-Henri, Awie found out that the kid wanted to be a muralist and decided to paint this mural from his sketchbook drawings. Have a look at the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti for more by Awie.

A beautiful diptych by Cyndie Belhumeur in the Plateau.

Omar Bernal in a Plateau alley.

Omar Bernal at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel. Omar has much more work in this retrospective, scroll up to Aldarwin or down to Grils and to the Taqueria production at the end of this post. He also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti (under ‘Dars’).

Bryan Beyung diptych in Ville St-Laurent.

Bonga in an abandoned building.

Borrris in an abandoned building.

Borrris mural in Mercier

Borrris mural in the Village. Borrris also participated in the big group portrait in Villeray, scroll down to ‘Grils’ to view.

Bosny in a Mile End alley production. Scroll down to ‘Jean-Sébastien Denis’ and to the Taqueria production at the end of this retrospective for more by Bosny. This artist also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti.

Stencil of Donald Trump kissing Fox News’ Sean Hannity, by Carnior in Cartierville.

Carnior on the Just For Laughs Museum. The character depicted here is the mascot of the Just For Laughs comedy festival/museum/empire. Gilbert Rozon, the head of Just For Laughs, was acquitted in 2020 from accusations of rape for the third time (he was also acquitted on 2 other cases in 1998). Also, 14 other women who had accused him of rape and sexual misconduct two years ago when the #MeToo movement started were denied being allowed to take Rozon to court.

A glimpse into the brain of Donald Trump from Carnior.

Ruben Carrasco in Hochelaga.

Ruben Carrasco in Hochelaga.

A tribute to Portuguese fado singer Amália Rodrigues by Paulo Carreira in the Portuguese neighborhood.

Chado in a Petite-Patrie alley.

Chado in a Villeray alley.

Cryote at ground level and Waxhead above, in a Plateau alley production curated by Waxhead. Waxhead has been very active in 2020, some of his work can also be found in this retrospective under ‘Grils’, under ‘SBU One’ and under his own name.

Denial‘s contribution to the 2020 edition of Mural Festival.

A beautiful tribute to Marcelle Ferron created by Jean-Sébastien Denis and painted by MSHL and Bosny in Outremont. Both MSHL and Bosny have solo work in this retrospective, scroll to their names to view.

Deps at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

DMT under an overpass.

DMT in an abandoned building.

Dodo Osé in Little Italy.

Dodo Osé in Little Italy. This artist also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti (under ‘Fleo’ and under ‘K6A’).

Earth Crusher in Hochelaga.

Elfu at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Filco in Hochelaga.

Filco in Hochelaga.

Patrick Forchild‘s contribution to the 2020 edition of Mural Festival is a tribute to health workers on the frontline of the fight against the Covid19 virus. It was painted on the Jewish General Hospital which was the first hospital ready to take on patients affected by the virus.

Franco E for Mu commemorating the 30-year anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s visit to Montreal in 1990. The mural is found in St-Henri.

Gallium on a ramp of a Rosemont skatepark.

Germ Dee in Rosemont.

Grils tackling the subject of police brutaly in Rosemont. Check out the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti for more by Grils.

This huge 21-artist group mural supervised by Grils was painted in Villeray and illustrates very well the year 2020 in Montreal Street Art which saw the creation of many informal communities of artists working together, perhaps in reaction to the isolation of confinement. Front row: Kando, Her, Melsa Montagne, LNA, Ofusk, Wuna, Tshoko and Mins. Middle row: Ravens Or Crows, Aldarwin, Moule, Math Lamarre, Omar Bernal, Maliciouz and Mastrocola. Back row: Adi, Derap, Waxhead, Sibo, Grils and Borrris.

Wuna, Tshoko, Ravens Or Crows, Aldarwin, Omar Bernal, Maliciouz, Waxhead, Grils and Borrris all have solo work in this retrospective, scroll to their names to view. Her, LNA, Ofusk, Tshoko, Aldarwin, Omar Bernal, Adi and Grils all contributed to the Taqueria project featured at the very end of this post. Ofusk also has work under his alias Malin, see ‘Jest’ below. Adi, Tshoko and Waxhead also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 pasted street art.

Hank at the Papineau legal graffiti wall.

Jest‘s contribution to the 2020 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Mural by Jest (mostly top part) and Malin (mostly bottom part) in Hochelaga. Both artists were involved in the Taqueria production featured at the end of this retrospective. Malin aka Ofusk has more work above under ‘Grils’. Check out the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti for more by Ofusk under ‘Malin’ and ‘Fokus’.

Johnny Crap in the Plateau. Check out the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti for more by Johnny Crap under his alias ‘Zen’.

Kor in a Rosemont alley. Check out the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti for more by Kor.

Collaboration between Nikki Küntzle (left) and Caitlin McDonagh (right) for the 2020 edition of Canettes de Ruelle.

Collaboration between Labrona and M’Os Geez in a Hochelaga alley. Both artists have made it into the Retrospective of 2020 pasted street art. Scroll down for more by Labrona, under ‘Ledo’.

A large mural in Little Italy, by the Lama collective formed by artists Ludovic Mio, Hary, E. Bedaine and Alexis Vaillancourt. Hary also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti with a name piece.

This tribute to québécois sculptor Armand Vaillancourt was done for Mu by his son Alexis Vaillancourt with the help of his Lama crewmates.

A very long mural by the Lama collective in Rosemont.

Marc-Olivier Lamothe‘s contribution to the 2020 edition of Mural Festival.

A great collaboration between Kevin Ledo (central character) and Labrona (flying around) in a Plateau alley.

Another great collaboration between Kevin Ledo (left) and Labrona (right) in a Plateau alley. Labrona has more work in this retrospective, scroll up to his name to view.

La Loica‘s contribution to the 2020 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Lost Claws on a Mile End rooftop.

Lost Claws on a Petite-Patrie rooftop. This artist also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 pasted street art.

2020 marked the 40th anniversary of the first referendum on Quebec independence and Macak painted at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel this famous picture of René-Lévesque giving his speech after having lost. Macak also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti.

Above 3 photos: a 3-part piece by Maj in a Rosemont alley.

Maliciouz in a Hampstead park. She was involved in the large ‘La vie des noir.e.s compte’ piece at the top of this page. She also contributed to the huge group portrait in Villeray, scroll up to ‘Grils’ to view.

Mateo on an abandoned minivan in Mile End.

Mateo in Mile End.

Mateo in Mile End.

Monk.e in Ahuntsic.

A tribute to Vice Verses by Monk.e, in Hochelaga. Monk.e also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti.

A mural by Mono Sourcil in the Plateau.

Collaboration between Le Monstr (door) and Loopkin (left and right) for a green alley production in Hochelaga.

An abstract mural by MSHL in Pointe St-Charles. Scroll up to ‘Jean-Sébastien Denis’ for more by this artist.

Collaboration between Origami Explorateur and VF Vibes at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel. Origami Explorateur also finds herself in this retrospective under ‘Aldarwin’ and in the feature on the Taqueria production at the end of the post.

A tribute to George Floyd by Chris B. Powell and Caro Thibault at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

Ravens Or Crows in a Mile End alley prod. She also contributed to the huge group portrait in Villeray, scroll up to ‘Grils’ to view.

A double garage diptych by Emily Read in Villeray. The animal on the door on the right is a pangolin; with the rainbow painted above, this connects the piece to the Covid19 pandemic.

Repus‘ contribution to the 2020 edition of the Lachine graffiti jam.

A tribute to MC Doom by Resok in Rosemont. Check out the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti for more by Resok.

Enok Ripley mural in Villeray.

Rouks in Rosemont.

Rouks at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel.

SBU One (left) and Waxhead (right) on a bridge pillar. The piece was inspired by the two homeless men who usually hang out there.

SBU One in an abandoned building.

SBU One in a Mile End alley production. SBU also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti.

Scribe in the Plateau.

Scribe in the Plateau.

Scribe in the Plateau.

Scribe in the Plateau. Check out the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti for more by Scribe.

Sence in Rosemont.

Nick Sweetman at the PSC legal graffiti wall.

Tchug in Rosemont. Check out the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti for more by Tchug.

Tshoko‘s contribution to the 2020 edition of Mural Festival. She also contributed to the huge group portrait in Villeray (scroll up to ‘Grils’ to view) and to the Taqueria production featured below. She also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 pasted street art.

A beautiful Ola Volo mural in Hochelaga.

Waxhead in a Mile End alley production which he supervised.

Waxhead in a Petite-Patrie alley. Waxhead also made it into this retrospective in collaborations, scroll up to ‘Cryote’, ‘Grils’ and ‘SBU One’ to view. He also made it into the Retrospective of 2020 pasted street art.

A beautiful mural by Sophie Wilkins in Montreal North.

Wuna in a Rosemont alley. She also contributed to the huge group portrait in Villeray, scroll up to ‘Grils’ to view. Check out the Retrospective of 2020 graffiti for more by Wuna.

Zoltan in the Plateau.


Omar Bernal’s Dia de los Muertos taqueria production

2020 was the year in which many informal communities of artists were created, the biggest of which being the gang that regularly came together at the Rouen legal graffiti tunnel to paint and hang out. This led to the production of many multi-artist productions around the city, such as one supervised by Grils in Villeray (see group photo above under ‘Grils’) and this one curated by Omar Bernal on the walls of a Hochelaga taqueria. The theme of this all black and white production was Dia de los Muertos. The photos below cover the complete production.

The front by Omar Bernal.

The long western wall features Ramses Herrera Medina, Tshoko, Grils, Moule, Jest, Ofusk, LNA, Origami Explorateur, Omar Bernal, Nero, Timoh Garcia and Aldarwin.

Curator Omar Bernal‘s dog Pipa passed away during the production, so he integrated her into it at a few places including this one above Robert Davy.

Marine Martinelli on the back door.

Abir on 2nd floor back door.

Her on a back wall.

Abir on the back wall. Omar Bernal echoed her piece on the post in front.

Bosny doing his thing on this back corner.

This segment of the eastern wall shows Omar Bernal, Timoh Garcia, Grils, Bezo, Lino and Aldarwin.

Central eastern wall showing Omar Bernal, Adi, Mariposa, Verbe, Huile d’Olive, SciWalkArt, Grils, Timoh Garcia and Aldarwin.

Andra

Front wall of the taqueria, Grils on the left, and Grils and Lino on the right.

Grils on corn piece over a background by Aldarwin.

Of all the artists involved, Tshoko, Grils, Jest, Origami Explorateur, Omar Bernal, Aldarwin, Abir and Bosny have more work featured in this retrospective, scroll to their names to view. Ofusk, Moule, LNA, Her and Adi are involved in the group portrait in Villeray, scroll up to ‘Grils’ to view. Ofusk can also be found under his alias Malin, see ‘Jest’.

Adi, Marine Martinelli, SciWalkArt and Huile d’Olive all made it into the Retrospective of 2020 pasted street art.