Nixon exposition @ Sino Shop

I stopped by the Nixon show at Sino Shop this past Friday to check out some work by this local writer who has been getting up ever since I have been paying attention to graffiti in Montreal. Sino Shop offered a great venue and space for Nixon`s show that easily had about 30 of his pieces up on the walls including a couple of minor installations. The size, quality, and price of the pieces also covered a wide spectrum ranging anywhere from $20 for small name pieces to $250 for more elaborate and thematic art pieces.

There was also a nice mixture of canvass types: plastic/plexi-glass, poster board, baseball cards, regular canvasses, wood, and other objects like spray cans, a toy truck, and some play-do. There was also a green dragon (or something like it) made of papier mache (I think) in the middle of the room that I'm pretty sure someone was riding at some point, a plate of cold cuts and hamburger meat fashioned into Nixon's moniker, and a tagged up waste paper can.

There was a solid turn out of folks walking through checking the art work, mingling, chatting, and having a few drinks to the beats the DJ was kicking out behind one of the main counters where he was set up (I didn't get his name but he was putting out some good stuff). Sino, who runs the shop, was balancing his time walking through the shop and hanging out at the main counter area chatting it up with writers and others passing through. The show was certainly a success evidenced by a great turn out and a good number of pieces having been marked "sold" by the time I left around 9:30 pm.
Here are a few shots of the opening night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exposition is running until the 19th of December 2009 so if you want to get your hands on some original, well priced works by a local writer then stop on by Sino Shop at 2817 rue Ontario Est, just off of Frontenac metro.

Fom the Vault: Old pan shots and shiz

Well I went through some of my old pics and was able to put together some pan shots of some walls from a few places I've documented over the last few years. For the most part they came out OK, although there are some lighting issues and a few disjoints here and there. Here are some pans from TA Wall & Factory, Stinky's, St. Catherine's Street, the Plateau, and a few other areas and events. Hopefully they came out alright.

**I fixed all the links on these pics so they are fully viewable now**

Here's a section of the lower TA Wall from May 2009 featuring Bfor, Kemo, and Scan. Crazy Apes Crew did a monster prodution just to the right of it that I have a little ways lower on this post.


This is section of the MOS wall just off of Bleury taken in January 2007. This work was done for MOS 2006. The pic is a little blurry off to the right as I was still shooting with my hand held digi at the time and not every pic was crisp. reading from top left around right and back to bottom left we got: F.One, Ewol, Sewer, Nixon, Nesar, Fomer, Dock, and Loes.

Here's another section of wall from MOS 2006 (photo taken in Jan 2007 again) featuring (from top left around to bottom left) Zek, Tyke, Dfek, Ekon, Striker, Sick(156), Shok, and Stack. The last one on the end I do not know. But some solid painting here that's for sure.


Another wall from MOS 2006, just to the left of the one above featuring Bez and Striker in the first section, Tchug and Astro in the second, and a few in the final section that I am unsure of as of yet.


Here's an oldie, this production used to be up in an alley way just off of Concordia on Mackay Street. This production had been up for a while, it was a really nice piece of work that featured Stare, Omen, Pener, Skan, Cemz, Fatso, and Cameo. There were others involved in this one I believe but I I'm not sure yet who they were.

This is a production I found while trucking around the east end of Montreal in 2007.

Scien and Astro from 2006 in Outremont area.

This is a section of the upper TA Wall from 2006 featuring a couple I don't know, but second from left is Sober, then Nixon, and at the end is Saer.

Here's that mad toxic production by Crazy Apes Crew that I photographed at the lower TA Wall in May earlier this year. Running from left to right: Beta, Fezat, Lith, Havok, and Mystx. Solid production by some very talented writers.

Here's another pan from the lower TA Wall featuring some nice work by Stack and Ether and then

Tyke and Shok.

This is a Trife Life production that was just off of St Catherine's street I took in 2006: Dfek, Zek, Life, Ether, and Shok.

Finally, here is a pan shot of a section of Stinky's that I took in April of this year. I thought that this was an interesting use of the structure by Bubz who had painted on a number of disjointed characters across a large section of the abandoned area. I particularly like the birds and have seen then in various locations throughout the city this year.

I'll post more pan shots when I get around to putting them together. I got some stuff from Turcot, more from the TA Wall and Factory, Stinky's, and a few other places.

PURGATORY (or some place like it) Rage 5 @ The Emporium Nov 2009

The Rage5 art show "PURGATORY (or some place like it)" at The Emporium Art Gallery (http://www.theemporiumgallery.com/) on Nov 5th 2009 was an interesting look at some pieces by an artist who I have been following on the streets for the past few years. It was a small show with only about a dozen pieces that were for the most part some nice works. The pieces adopted a religious iconographic aesthetic that was meant to provoke a certain sense of unease that this artist has been having as a result of his recent move from the unofficial to the official.

The Emporium provided a nice and cozy space and had chocolate treats and some locally brewed beer available for those attending. It as a pretty good turn out. The room was packed full of chatting people both on the floor admiring the art and at the bar admiring the beer and treats. I didn't get a chance to chat with the artist as he seemed pretty busy moving from group to group doing his thing. In any case it wa a nice show, but I was hoping to see more of his work. Overall I enjoyed the show and appreciated the hospitality of the gents who run the gallery. As this was the first official gallery show for Rage5 and in my opinion a succcess as there was a nice turnout and the pieces were intriguing and went well together. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of his work in the near future.

This is a statement made by Rage5 that was printed on some handouts at the show:
“Having made a name for myself as a graffiti artist, I now find myself experiencing a rite of passage as I attempt my way into the gallery scene. While keeping a foot firmly set in the urban landscape with my street art, I am now experiencing a state of limbo which PURGATORY (or someplace like it) refers to. The religious imagery and symbols adopted in this new work metaphorically portray my inhibitions, fears, hopes and desires as I now transition from a seemingly unregulated world to an organized system. This new series of work illustrates my limited yet growing understanding of the constructs that make up the art milieu vs. my anarchic approach to street art.”