While we were in Montreal, a number of these posters, or paste ups, appeared. They were part of MuralFest, a street art and mural festival that was happening at the time. Although I recognized some of the people who were pictured, there are a couple that I wasn’t sure of. Here are six that I saw (none of which had any ‘instagram likes’):
Kim Jong-Il of North Korea on a graffiti wall
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Joseph Stalin on the side of an old wood building
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someone in a helmet…. any ideas? Mussolini?
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Adolf Hitler high up on a brick wall
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Japanese? guy on a poster covered wall
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another person who I think I should know, but I don’t
Aires Libres and Outdoor Street Sales along Rue Sainte- Catherine, Montreal, on a sunny Sunday afternoon. There were many booths with different styles of art for sale. I stopped at a few of them.
below: “Siamoises” – What looks like twin cats in red dresses is actually a row of identical kitties, but the spotlight is on those two. A mural by Mono Sourcil, aka Maxlie Martel.
below: Designed by ANYO – squirrels with different coloured hats. I have only shown two, red and turquoise, but there are many more out there….. how many have you seen?!
below: Giraffes
below: A wish for peace and love, amor et paix, for Ukraine.
below: A small portion of a large mural by Pantonio showing two of the many birds in the mural – a large bluish black bird and a cute little purple and white bird.
below: “Mechanic Bird” by Dede Bandaid & Nitzan Mintz, with text: “Of my dozens of keys, the smallest one opens home”
below: This rendition of Daffy Duck is the work of Simon Beaulieu – throwup “text” says Simple.
below: Dog (wolf?) with laser eyes.
below: It’s an animal, right? The blue creature on the left. It was painted by Cryote and the whole panel was a collaboration with Labrona and Waxhead.
Breaking Walls was an Urban Arts and Culture event in Montreal that was held back in June of this year. It was supported by Kolors Worldwide (“Let’s kolor the world”) and MOS Canada – Meeting of Styles Canada. The event was held in a space between rue Moreau and the railway tracks, close to rue Rouen, in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood. In hindsight, I realize that I missed a couple of the murals the day that I was there. Additionally, a couple of the smaller pieces that I have included may be graffiti that pre-dates the Breaking Walls event.
below: I am going to call it a blue traffic circle because it’s blue and it has traffic related items in it such as an orange cone, the front of a car, street signs, and traffic lights yellow. It was painted by Sergio MB. Unfortunately, the red and white tag has already defaced the work.
To the left of this purple dog (by Hank) was a painting of a woman’s portrait in turquoise that unfortunately has already been tagged over. It was painted by Polographe and can be seen on his Instagram page.
below: Arlick Enigma ( Arlick PaXman Team), originally from Mexico, painted this wonderful portrait of a child wearing a parka with a fur lined hood.
On Montreal’s rue Ontario, close to rue Moreau and the railway tracks, there is a long brick building close to the sidewalk. At one end there is a painting of a squirrel with an object in his little front paws. This nut shaped object has a label that says Courrier Plus which turns out to be a trucking/transportation company and the owner of the building on which the mural is painted.
The rest of the mural features a red fire hydrant, a pigeon and a toucan with a beak in rainbow colours.
below: A white happy three eyed fish swimming among the scribbles.
below: A curly haired woman, or an old lady with a cane, and a monkey face. It looks like someone has a roller ready to paint over this section of wall…
below: Too cool dragon wearing blue shades and a jacket with the Montreal Expos logo on it. It’s been almost 20 years since the Expos played in Montreal.
La Fresque des Québécois is the title of a 420 m2 mural found on the side of Maison Soumande on rue Notre-Dame in Old Quebec City. It depicts figures from 400 years of Quebec City history. Twelve painters from France and Quebec contributed to the mural.
New France was the name of the French colony in North America beginning in 1593 with the arrival of Jacques Cartier. The French relinquished the colony to the British and the Spanish in 1763, at the end of the Seven Years War
Looking out of the upper windows are (on the left) Jean Talon (1626-1694) who was steward of New France; in this position he was in control of the civil administration of the colony. The other man is Louis de Baude Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau (1622-1698) was Governor General of New France for many years.
In 1763 what is now Quebec became the Province of Quebec, a British colony. In 1791 this colony was divided into two, Upper Canada along the upper parts of the St. Lawrence River, and Lower Canada, along the lower section of the river. Upper Canada is approximately what is now Ontario while Quebec has grown from Lower Canada. Quebec City was in Lower Canada.
François-Xavier Garneau (1809-1866), national historian of French Canada stands on a balcony with (on the right) Louis-Joseph Papineau (1786-1871), Member of Parliament in Lower Canada. Playing his guitar is Félix Leclerc (1914-1988). Just behind him is Frederick Temple Blackwood, Marquis de Dufferin and d’Ava (1826-1902), Governor General of Canada from 1872-1878; He’s probably best remembered as Lord Dufferin. During his time as Governor General, Quebec City officials began the demolition of the old city walls. Blackwood persuaded them to stop and rebuild the parts that they had damaged. In 1985 Old Quebec was recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Samuel Champlain (1570-1635) poses in his green jacket while holding onto his hat with the large white feather. He founded Quebec in 1608. Just behind him is Alphonse Desjardins (1854-1920) founder of the Desjardins Cooperative Movement. Coming down the stairs is Louis Jolliet (1645 -1700), along with Jesuit priest Father Jacques Marquette, was the first non-Native to explore the upper parts of the Mississippi River. Jolliet was born near Quebec City.
Eyes on the Streets 