BY TAMARA BELKOV
Marie Roberge, an artist and author of L’Art Sous Les Bombes, a
book on Montreal’s graffiti culture, was in Sudbury to take part in
Le Salon du Livre. While she was in town, she lent a hand to a
graffitistyle art happening on Durham St. The south wall of the
building that houses a coffee shop and a framing store was awash in
canary yellow paint.
Dozens of students, under the guidance of Montreal graffiti
artist Simon Bachand, took to ladders to convert the 40 by 20-foot
brick wall into a vibrant piece of art.
While some see graffiti as bad and downright ugly, Roberge sees the good in graffiti. “A wall is accessible to the public,” she explained.
“Through art, the youth are yelling ‘listen to me’. Graffiti is
a conversation that goes around the world. It creates a ripple
effect.”
Alex Champagne, a third-year classical animation student at
Laurentian
University, and Eric Hoop, a local musician and mural artist, have
been
involved in the project since its inception.
They differentiate between legal and illegal graffiti and would
like to see the city take notice and create legal wall spaces for
graffiti artists.
They also make a distinction between graffiti and tagging. Tagging is noted by stylized lettering usually spelling out the tagger’s street name.
In some cities, street gangs tag to mark drug territories and warn off rival gangs. “It’s not all bad. Graffiti can be positive,” said Champagne.
“This is a chance to expose a growing and popular art
form.”
The work titled A La Face du Monde, (Face the World), was sponsored by the Art Gallery of Sudbury. Gallery co-ordinator Mercedes Cueto said the gallery welcomed the chance to partner with Le Salon du Livre and building owner Michael Topolinski on the project. Cueto eagerly agrees there is an artistic component to graffiti and sees the mural as an enhancement to the downtown core.
