Legal Graffiti

Montreal, QC - CE - Tuesday, September 26th, 2006 : goo

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For those who have been to Montreal you know that it's everywhere. From grocery stores to laundromats to the legal walls in alleys along Ste-Catherine near St-Laurent for Under Pressure there seems to be more legal work than illegal.

The McGill Daily ran an article about this topic a few years ago. They brought up a few interesting points especially about what it has done for illegal writers:

"The city’s direct sponsorship of graffiti art, in the from of the Under Pressure event and murals throughout the city, is both born of increased public tolerance and also contributes to the opening of minds. This, coupled with the increase in private funding for painted walls, leads us to a neighbourhood quickly morphing into one of the city’s first living museums.

You can’t turn a corner in the Plateau without seeing walls covered by the city’s finest painters. KOPS Krew and Urban X-Pressions are represented “TO DA MAXX” in several places, and close by are the different styles of crews DA and UNC, among others. The area is a mélange of spray paint that reflects Montreal’s diversity of culture. Well-defined shapes, vibrant colors, and lively, inventive characters all serve to bring a unique aesthetic to the otherwise grey and wintry urban environment.

At the heart of the open-air exposition, though, is the commercialization of the art form.

The abundance of painted walls commissioned by private funding has contributed to such a relaxed atmosphere that even illegal walls can be done as large-scale productions. Says MAYSR, “The cops come by and say, ‘is this legal?’, and you say, ‘uh, yeah.’ and by the time they check it out and come back, you’re already finished and gone.” And yet, the money greasing the wheels is made up of double-sided coins."

Full article: www.mcgilldaily.com/view.php?aid=2013

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ace: graffiti is art and this shit is bad ass

no one def: shits crazy

Tyler: The second one is the BOMB man

ace86: sahaweet

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