The Art of Wild Posting

On the Cover: @alice_demee

As dozens of walls around Saint-Laurent Boulevard get little makeover as part of MURAL Festival, a great variety of artistic initiatives are also livening up the neighbourhood during these 10 days of urban art celebrationt. Amongst others: Publicité Sauvage’s billboards.

“Long-time partner of the festival, Publicité Sauvage have been paving the way, for more than 30 years now, for urban interventions. They have become true messengers of Montreal’s culture.”, André Bathalon, MURAL’s spokesperson, explains. Publicité Sauvage began its activities in the 80’s sort of illegally, as their team was covering up the streets of Montreal with posters promoting cultural events. Since then, after fighting for the cause, the laws changed and their poster collection featuring many unique and creative works have grown.  

Every year, the outdoor display company teams up with MURAL to transform a dozen billboards. Originally dedicated to communicating the festival’s program to passers-by, the mandate has turned into works of art. The partnership allows us to mix business with pleasure by putting forward more local talents, while sharing key information.

At the heart of the festivities, the young artists transforming the billboards are in direct contact with the passers-by while creating their pieces. “The artists then have the opportunity to expose their talent, while also being able to interact with the festival-goers, who in return have the possibility to observe the artists’ creation process and discuss it with them. That’s how a unique exchange is being created on the Boulevard.”, Colleen Legrix, program coordinator of the festival, explains.  

“As is their custom, they allowed us for another year to highlight the talent of almost 20 local artists”, André adds. This year, it’s the visuals of @mc_grou, @carolanebel, @thomas_lateur, @nikki.kuentzle, @jo_mendel, @yumar11, @maxprevo, @raphael_dairon_illustration, @g.r_julia, @david__hoult, @domxox, @tiffanyroyrockart, @alice_demee, @gen.bigue, @flo_rivest, @duval.art, @kalablanche, @mr.crocks, @melolhx and @karina._jacobsen that livened up Saint-Laurent Boulevard during this past edition of the festival.

“This project was oriented by an artistic direction that to me could be described as colourful, refined, meticulous with a whimsical and dreamlike touch, thus bringing us back to a certain simplicity or to the contrary reminding us of our oppressive environment. These artists decidedly enriched Saint-Laurent Boulevard.”, Colleen concludes.