Exploring Ghent with Chris Dyer

DSC_0285_01
Bue the Warrior and Chris Dyer

In early spring, I had the chance to meet up with Chris Dyer in Ghent, Belgium, while he was visiting the family of his wife, the lovely Valerie. As he regularly spends time in this part of Europe, and in order to avoid getting bored and to take advantage of this time away from Montreal, his home city, he met with the local street artists and ended up collaborating on a bunch of projects. And because Chris is so generous and positive, he naturally became friends with many of them.

DSC_0326_01
Chris Dyer, Bue the Warrior, and Scarpulla

For me, it was an opportunity to explore the city with Chris, to get his take on Ghent and see what he’d painted there. Actually, as he said to me, Ghent should be re-named Bue the Warrior City! When you enter Ghent, you see Bue’s art everywhere. Whether it’s illegal or legal pieces, his art covers a multitude of walls and doors… All of it painted in a joyful spirit, yet always controlled.

While we were walking through the city, looking for some cool spots where he used to paint, Chris explained to me how he improved his bombing technique each time he worked with Bue. It’s the same gratitude you can feel when he speaks about his beginnings in Montreal, where he was invited, in the early 2000’s, to join an exhibition organized by the best of the best,Troy Lovegates and Labrona, after he moved from Peru for study illustration in Canada. What a lesson of humility, when you can hear the admiration and respect for his peers by an artist like Dyer! He also told me about his early life in Lima, Peru, where he began tagging as a teenager while he was part of a street gang.

DSC_0247_01
Chris Dyer
DSC_0256_01
Chris Dyer

Ghent is a small town compared to bigger neighbors like Brussels, but it appears to be an incredible canvas for Belgium street artists and graffiti writers. ROA is the most well-known among them, as are Dzia, A squid called sebastian, Resto, Bisser, Scarpulla, and of course Bue the warrior, just for named a few.

DSC_0183_01
Dzia
DSC_0201_01
A squid called sebastian
DSC_0185_01
Bue the Warrior and Dawn
DSC_0276_01
Graffiti Factory
DSC_0281_01
Graffiti Factory
DSC_0286_01
Bisser, Bue the Warrior, and Chris Dyer
DSC_0331_01
ROA
DSC_0308_01
Bue the Warrior

Thank you very much Chris!

DSC_0351_01
Chris Dyer behind the Graslei, the historical center of Ghent.

Positive Creations in Belgium (Artventures Webpisode #8) from Chris Dyer`s Positive Creations on Vimeo.

Photos by Aline Mairet

MURAL Festival, Montreal, Canada (part 1)

DSC_0785_01
ROA

MURAL‘s first edition is what we can call a success. Montreal had never run such a massive urban art event … MURAL brought together some incredible local and  international artists for 4 days of explosive creativity. Running up and down Saint-Laurent Boulevard to admire and document all the murals was delightful. After given you an idea of the murals in progress last Sunday, here are the completed murals of ROA, Troy Lovegates (aka Other), Escif, Omen, Phlegm, Reka One, Pixel pancho, A Squid Called Sebastian, Le Bonnard, A’shop.

DSC_0777_01
ROA
DSC_0793_01
Troy Lovegates (aka Other)
DSC_0826_01
Escif – Barré means “Locked”
DSC_0775_01
Escif – Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

Continue reading “MURAL Festival, Montreal, Canada (part 1)”