Montreal has many festivals throughout the year, particularly during the summer months. Many have been in existence for years (and decades), such as; the International Jazz Festival, the Francofolies, Juste Pour Rire, International Fireworks competition, to name just a few.

A recent addition to the Montreal fest calendar is the Montreal Mural Festival. The second edition was held recently (12-15 June) along Saint-Laurent Boulevard and had over 20 artists (both local and international) creating stunning murals on walls along The Main and neighbouring streets.

 

 

This year the weather was not kind to the artists for the first few days, with heavy rain falling for long periods. But the skies cleared for the final couple of days and there are now some great new art pieces to be enjoyed over the coming year.

For 2014, the artists included:

• 123 KLAN (France)
• 2501 (Italy)
• ALEX PRODUKT (Canada)
• ALEX SCANER (Canada)
• ALEXIS DIAZ (Puerto Rico)
• BEZT DE ETAM CRU (Poland)
• BRYAN BEYUNG (Canada)
• CYRCLE (USA)
• FRED CARON (Canada)
• INTI (Chili)
• KASHINK (France)
• KEVIN LEDO (Canada)
• LE DIAMANTAIRE (France)
• MATHIEU CONNERY (Canada)
• MISS ME (Canada)
• RONE (Australia)
• RR & DB (Canada)
• SETH (France)
• STIKKI PEACHES (Canada)
• VILX (France)
• ZEMA (Canada)
• ZILON (Canada)
• ZOLTAN (Canada)

Although I’ve managed to get shots of many of the murals, I still haven’t managed to capture all of the art work that was created during the 4 days. But rather than wait until I do, here is the first selection of some that I’ve managed to photograph so far (taken over the course of a number of days):

123 KLAN

 

 

When I visited the week after the festival, there was a sign that had been left nearby of a hand and I thought composing with the pointed finger made for an interesting shot.

RONE

The mural by Rone is probably one of my favourites from this years festival…her eyes seem to follow you wherever you are.

 

 

I want to revisit this mural at night and get some shots with the street light on (if in fact the light works).

Seth

 

 

 

 

 

Bezt de Etam Cru

 

When I shot the above picture I was a bit pissed about the wires crossing through, but it made me think it would be great to shoot again with a couple of crows sitting on the wire…Will likely take a lot of luck and/or patience to pull that off (or some Photoshop manipulation).

 

 

Zilon

The first shot was taken actually before the festival began. I noticed that the abandoned building on the corner of Marie-Anne and Saint Dominique had been painted white and was a blank canvas in waiting…

 

A week later, Zilon had added some colour…

 

 

INTI

 

 

 

 

RR & DB

 

 

Alex Scaner

 

 

 

One day when I was passing by Alex’s mural, there was a vintage yellow VW Karmann Ghia parked across the street that blended nicely with the mural in the background.

I hope to follow up on this post in the next few days with the rest of the images I’ve taken so far (including murals by; Alexis Diaz, Bryan Beyung, Cyrcle, Kashink, Kevin Ledo, Vilx, Zema and Zoltan)

I thought perhaps that all the murals from last year would be painted over with new artwork. Some were, but quite a few from 2013 remain to be enjoyed for another year at least. I did a few posts of the Mural Festival 2013, so if you want to see the murals from last year, you can check them out here, here and here.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

Montréal in Pictures

Your virtual guide in and around Montréal

 

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