Art in progress: Montreal brick becomes canvas at Mural Fest

The streets of Montreal will be a little more colourful once the 18 new murals going up as part of Mural Fest 2018 are complete.

The public art will decorate the walls in the Plateau, Quartier des Spectacles and Golden Square Mile, as artists from near and far work feverishly to create their masterpieces. The works will all be completed by the end of the festival on June 17.

Sandra Chevrier is a Montreal-based artist who began work on her mural at the corner of St-Laurent Boulevard and Napoleon Street on Monday.

Chevrier has shown her work around the world, but it's her first time at Montreal Mural Fest.

Her mural, a portrait of a woman in a superhero mask, is part of a series called Superhero Cages she's been working on for several years.

"It's about the pressure that society and ourselves put on our shoulders trying to be perfect in our everyday lives," she said.

This mural, which spells out the French word for authenticity, is located at the corner at Milton Street and Parc Avenue.

Its creator is London-based artist Ben Eine, who is known for his use of bright colours and bold text.

A mural by Montreal-based artist Le Monstr is going up at the corner of Square Saint-Louis and Henri-Julien Avenue.

The artist behind the name, Franco-Canadian Benjamin Tran, settled in Montreal after studying graphic design in Paris.

The is the sixth edition of Mural Fest, which runs from June 7 to 17 and includes the blocking off of a section of St-Laurent Boulevard as pedestrian only.

Over the years, the murals have provided a facelift to some shabby alleyways.

Pedro Amos and Ryan the Wheelbarrow run the tour company Miami's Best Graffiti Guide and have been visiting the festival since its inception.

"It's grown exponentially since it first started," said Wheelbarrow, who goes by his artist name. "It's one of the best mural festivals on the planet."

Not all of this year's installations are in the Plateau-Mont-Royal — or even on an outside wall, for that matter. 

In a parking garage off Stanley Street between De Maisonneuve Boulevard and Sherbrooke Street, an "in-between" universe has been created by the American artist duo, Cyrcle. 

The installation is a series of indoor murals on the walls and floor of the parking garage.

It explores themes of space, astrophyics and time, and is intended to "blur our perception of space." 

So, it's fitting that the huge artwork is in the parking garage of Lune Rouge, Cirque du Soleil mogul Guy Laliberté's creative innovation company.

Laliberté became the first Canadian space tourist in 2009, an experience that he says marked him.

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