I don't know, there are quite a few artists working around Montreal that have done stuff I really like, just look at some of the pics on Stephane's flickr - but the real problem is there is just sooo much crap, and tagging. With the abundance of so much paint and stickers that are more 'vandalism' than 'graffiti' everything gets downgraded. It's a real problem here that is ruining such a beautiful city; and for a reason I can't grasp at all.

Terrible tagging in Montreal

This


vs. this

There's a local art store that allows artists to come and paint the side of the building. I think they rotate every few months. I'd like to do something similar if I owned a building

Ha ! I grew up in that neighborhood with the ugly tags. " Smoke Weed ! " indeed, that corner was notorious for the weed dealing jamaicans when i was a kid...smoked my first joint and passed out right by the beige building in the distance.

I kind of like these raw scribblings, they speak of the place and the people. And most importantly they can't really be comodified and end up, like the more elegant or ingenious "street art", in a sterile gallery to be sold by dead-eyed hipsters behind their macbooks ( i'm lookin' at you Y.L.)

For those reasons and more i am in awe of brazilian pixaçaõ, which is like basement vale tudo to Banksy's Taï-Chi.

What bothers me is the false edginess or clandestinity that is implied by the term " street art". If someone pays you, or even just lets you, paint a building or a walll it becomes public art. And there is a lot of public art that i love.

^I haven't read anything about painting that I agreed wholeheartedly with in a looooong time. And from someone I don't know has painted, wow!

Napalm Death vs Kenny G.





It's all beautiful music to someone, eh ?

I remember how oppressed I was seeing very dense pixaçaõ in some places in Sao Paulo - scary !
And don't worry, the term Public Art is coming through in the comodified Y.L. hipsy scene (Why nobody bomb this place is a wonder ...)
That said, I'd love to see some Banksy up close too.

Ben, how do you like this one ; )

"I Am Not a Graffiti Artist. I'm a Graffiti Bomber." - Cap style wars 1983
This is something that had been a point of contention from the earliest days. As well as the Napalm Death vs Kenny G analogy a great one would be "I collect Bemons NOT [expletive deleted]". Art in the end is in the eye of the beholder but graffiti is and always will be more than what is just pleasant to the eye. Most of my friends who write don't write because they give a shit about what we(civilians) think of their style. Infact most would rather keep away from "legal" walls and "art". just another perspective to think about.

They do it cause it needs to be done ! Same could be said for selfies and lip sinc on youtube, though.

Wait, are you implying that there is not a relevant contribution to cultural art by selfies and youtube lip syncing videos?!

I love graf but hate tagging. I tagged in my youth and it is one of those things I look back at with shame.

I think I went from just dismissing it to hating it when I hiked Santa Rosa Canyon to a big swimming hole beneath some falls. The entire hike is tagged with "smoke spot" and this or that crew bs.

I couldnt even begin to capture how much of the falls are ruined with this no class need to prove ones existence.




I see this on to many hikes these days. But on the city streets I love the odd piece of graffiti adding color to the drabness of society.

Yeah, I can take tagging on buildings/trains/etc because you can always paint over it (though for a cost) but with natural environment like rocks/trees it shouldn't be done

the mentality behind pixaçaõ is completely different than that of graffiti and thats what makes it so good. I dont really enjoy graffiti or street art for the most part, but some of the subversiveness in all of this is really interesting to me.

Agreed. I HATE seeing that shit in nature - I'm all for draconian punishment for folks caught doing that...cut off their hands! (Not really, but...)
Tags are no different than murals - some are good and have aesthetic value and some are just crap. A well-done tag can accentuate an urban environment.

I can't remember if I posted this before, but if I did, tough beans.




pics from jackwreckless' flickr stream

This is back from 2010 so I doubt it is still there, but I would have loved to see it in person. That is one thing that is actually good about this superfluous documenting world now, because most of these are so transient.

any day of the week!!!

Looks like they have a couple articles up about Banksy but a friend sent me this http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/18/4852306/building-owner-asks-what-to-do-with-new-banksy
I'm pretty sure putting a security guard at this piece would just encourage taggers to find ways to tag this one.
Back to Kenny G.

Looks like he's back at it in Paris. Looking forward to this.