Unframed: A Glimpse Into Street Artists’ Minds

“The artistic role of murals have played a key role in contemporary art and urban planning all around the world since the beginning of the industrial era. Muralism, graffiti and street art live together, but remain subjects of controversy on and off the streets. Unframed is a documentary that profile bold, daring artists who are shaping our cities and building the future of contemporary art.”

Here is how the all-new documentary series Unframed, produced by LaCroix + Heroes Studio and presented by MURAL, in collaboration with Fido, begins. The first season of the series will consist of 8 episodes shot in 3 Canadian cities: Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Each 10 minute episode will explore the creative realm of different street artists with unique styles, who come from contrasting backgrounds, yet manage to end up working side by side at the same events and festivals.

Hosted by André Bathalon, Unframed’s conversations take the artists out of their comfort zone. “We chose André as the host firstly because he’s MURAL Festival’s spokesperson and is already familiar with the artists, but more particularly, because he’s the type of person who has an ease with words and humour. He’s able to easily make people comfortable and ask the right questions. He’s what we call a “social lubricant”, reveals Nicolas Munn Rico, one of MURAL Festival’s co-founders. “Though the series doesn’t revolve around him, his personality is an essential part of the concept”, Patrice LaCroix, the series’ director, adds.  

Discussing their artworks and techniques are traditional conversations had with artists. In Unframed artists’ experiences and emotional past are augmented to the viewer so that we may understand their artistic approach.

For the first 3 episodes, shot in Montreal, Unframed takes a look into the world of  Miss Me, Fluke and Ricardo Cavolo. “We chose very different artists who had strong messages to share. We uncovered their creative process into realizing the art they create and also which circumstances led them to street art”, Patrice LaCroix explains. Unframed explores how one artist may have studied fine arts but now mostly produces legal murals, others may have started in the streets illegally, some may have hesitated to affiliate with street art at first, but saw it as their best platform due to censorship on social networks.

Discover more about these artists’ universe by following the series on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. The first three episodes of the series will be launched within the next few weeks,   followed up by the Toronto series featuring BirdO, Ness Lee and Ben Johnston. Stay tuned!