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Street art or eyesore? Montreal's graffiti is in the eye of the beholder – Montreal Gazette

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1 year ago

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With photo gallery: “Going back to the cave age, human beings have always had this inherent need to express themselves like this and to use walls to tell stories.”

Skateboarder Guillaume Lecuyer, surrounded by colourful graffiti, sweeps up at the skateboard park on Saint-Laurent Blvd.
Amid the graffiti at a skateboard park on St-Laurent Blvd., Guillaume Lecuyer sweeps up. Lecuyer took up skateboarding at the beginning of the pandemic with one board and one broom, and often shows up to clean the park. He now has 10 boards and one broom. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

He was born Raymond Pilon, but it was his alter ego, Zilon, that earned him notoriety in Montreal and much of the world. And Zilon’s story speaks volumes about the evolution of street art here.

Zilon, who died in July, first made his mark — marks — as an underground artist in the 1970s with his punk-punctuated, message-laden work mostly showcased on walls around town. But like so many others in his orbit, his dazzling creations went on to become acknowledged in mainstream circles and also ended up at prestige galleries.

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Thanks to two recently wrapped summer festivals — Under Pressure Graffiti  and Mural Urban Arts — as well as image-seeking building owners commissioning works, our cityscape has been energized and has sparkled with magnificent murals featuring the likes of Leonard Cohen, Janine Sutto, Jackie Robinson, Oscar Peterson and the latter’s sister, Daisy Peterson Sweeney, plus myriad eye-popping abstracts that can rival almost anything at museums.

The irony, however, is that many of these same mural creators, like Zilon, began their careers as oft-vilified graffiti taggers — and, yes, some still continue with their covert scribbling ways by night. 

Graffiti adorns the grey concrete supports under the Rosemont Blvd. overpass.
Graffiti under the grey expanse of the Rosemont Blvd. overpass. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

Life in this age of the mysterious English street artist Banksy — whose strong political messages have popped up around the planet — has turned previously held perceptions of art on its head. While the threat of arrest for illicit postings still exists around the world, there is now big money to be made in this genre. To wit: just the shreds of Banksy’s legit self-destructed piece, Love Is in the Bin, sold for $25.4 million U.S. two years ago in auction by Sotheby’s. A touring exhibition called Banksyland, which pays tribute to his works, comes to Montreal Sept. 8-16 at a yet undisclosed location.  

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Montreal street artist Monk.E, 41, who has been at the craft for 21 years, has yet to make a Banksy-like score. But he has followed a similar path, as have many others in his field. Once relegated to outsider status, Monk.E’s work has sprung up around town and 28 countries around the world on select building walls and in galleries. He is presently preparing a mural homage to Zilon in the courtyard of Les Foufounes Électriques, the base of the Under Pressure fest. 

Visual artist Monk.E leans on a metal fence, with a mural he collaborated on with Cuban visual artist Mr. Myl in the background.
“The Montreal scene is really exploding now,” says visual artist Monk.E, in front of a mural he created with Cuban visual artist Mr. Myl. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

“Zilon was such a pillar and a pioneer in opening the doors for the Montreal street-art movement,” says Monk.E, who characterizes his own work as “alchimiography,” combining ancient esthetics with contemporary urban art. “He started his career at a time when civil disobedience was a lot more controversial than it is now. But we’ve had a couple of decades to demystify what Zilon and others who were considered weird at the time were thinking.

“The Montreal scene is really exploding now. There is so much great talent and diversity here. But at the beginning, Zilon was the one to deal with all the heat and the judgments against his work, and he really helped pave the way for the rest of us.”  

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While Monk.E credits Zilon as the pioneer of the city’s street-art scene, he refers to Sterling Downey as its “godfather.” 

Yes, the same Sterling Downey, who has served as a Projet Montréal borough councillor in Verdun the last 10 years. Besides his independent councillor buddy Craig Sauvé — a heavy-metal musician who lured Downey into politics — there are few more intriguing characters on the municipal front than this borough councillor. Ever-engaging, ever-beaming, the distinctively bearded Downey, also an artist, ex-art director, ex-magazine publisher, musician, skateboarder and war-veteran activist, is the co-founder of the 28-year-old Under Pressure fest. In a former life, he was the prolific tagger known as Seaz and contributed his fair share of impressive murals.

Montreal city councillor Sterling Downey sits on a bench, far right, beside two striking murals: a grimacing face with yellow backdrop and a woman holding flowers.
“Even if I’m not an elected official, even if I’m just a citizen, there is a law that you’re not allowed to write on something without permission,” says city councillor Sterling Downey, a former street artist himself. He’s seated beside two murals, around the corner from Les Foufounes Électriques. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

“I prefer to think of myself in less grandiose terms as a spokesperson for the Montreal street-art movement rather than a godfather,” muses Downey, 50, in the Foufounes courtyard. 

Downey is quick to note, however, that while many view the proliferation of murals in the city as a bona-fide art form, plenty others see graffiti more as eyesores — mindless urban scrawls that can desecrate building walls, shops, bus shelters and even hydrants.  

“We use the term street art, but the word ‘art’ is in the context of that definition,” he says. “But when we talk about graffiti, it’s often just the act of spraying on a surface and has no other context. If you mix graffiti and add vandalism, you have a different context about writing without permission or damaging something, rendering it not useful.  

“Street art is interesting, because that’s a term that really appeared in the early 2000s. Prior to that, we spoke about it as graffiti and it was often paired with the notion of vandalism. Even revered artists back then still didn’t have the amnesty to do their art wherever they wanted. It still required permission on a public space or private property. But going back to the cave age, human beings have always had this inherent need to express themselves like this and to use walls to tell stories.” 

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  1. A blue Montreal city bus passes by the graffiti-covered three-storey former Fattal brick building.

    Graffiti covers much of the former Fattal building at the corner of St-Remi and Acorn Sts. in Montreal on June 21, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  2. Blue graffiti on a red stop sign at the corner of Davaar and Lajoie Aves. in Outremont.

    Graffiti on a stop sign at the corner of Davaar and Lajoie Aves. in Outremont on August 26, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  3. An umbrella-carrying man walks up a steep incline on Park Ave., past colourful graffiti on the Holland Varnish Company building.

    A pedestrian walks uphill along Park Ave., at a railway underpass south of Beaumont Ave., framed by the graffiti-covered walls of the Holland Varnish Company building on August 26, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  4. Seagulls flock around graffiti-covered buildings on Park Ave. at the corner of Beaubien St.

    Graffiti covers buildings on Park Ave. at the corner of Beaubien St. on August 26, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  5. Tags scrawled on boarded-up windows of a building at the corner of Park Ave. and Beaubien St.

    Boarded-up windows and graffiti on a building at the corner of Park Ave. and Beaubien St. on August 26, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  6. A paddle boarder in life jacket drifts by graffiti along the Lachine Canal east of Atwater Market.

    A paddleboarder drifts by graffiti along the Lachine Canal east of Atwater Market on August 23, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  7. Four runners jog past graffiti along a paved path on the Lachine Canal between Atwater Market and the Peel Basin.

    Runners jog past graffiti along the Lachine Canal path between Atwater Market and the Peel Basin on August 23, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  8. A cyclist in shorts on a blue bike gazes at graffiti as she rides along a paved path on the Lachine Canal.

    A cyclist takes in the graffiti along the Lachine Canal between Atwater Market and the Peel Basin on August 23, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  9. A view of condos overlooking the Lachine Canal as a jogger passes a brick wall filled with graffiti.

    A runner jogs by on the Lachine Canal, framed by condos to the left and graffiti to the right on August 23, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  10. Visual artist Monk.E leans on a metal fence, with a mural he collaborated on with Cuban visual artist Mr. Myl in the background.

    “The Montreal scene is really exploding now,” says visual artist Monk.E, in front of a mural he created with Cuban visual artist Mr. Myl on August 23, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  11. Grey-bearded Montreal city councillor Sterling Downey, with tattooed arms folded, standing in front of walls of bright graffiti.

    “Street art is interesting, because that’s a term that really appeared in the early 2000s. Prior to that, we spoke about it as graffiti and it was often paired with the notion of vandalism,” says city councillor Sterling Downey. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  12. The silhouette of a helmeted cyclist riding past a graffiti-packed railway overpass on the Lachine Canal bike path.

    Graffiti covers the wall under the railway overpass on the Lachine Canal bicycle path near the Peel Basin on May 21, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  13. 'GERM' in yellow spraypainted on a yellow brick wall at the corner of Vendôme and de Maisonneuve.

    Graffiti writing on an empty building at the corner of Vendôme Ave. and de Maisonneuve Blvd. on June 8, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  14. Cars drive under a railway overpass covered in tags as a railcar passes, also covered in tags, one marked 'JELOUS.'

    Graffiti covers both a railway overpass and the train cars passing by as cars drive underneath at a crossing in the centre of the city on June 6, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  15. An example of graffiti artists going to extremes: a yellow tag on the back of a highway sign at the interchange of Highways 20 and 15.

    Some graffiti artists have gone to dangerous extremes to paint on the backs of highway signs, including this one off St-Jacques St. at the interchange of Highway 15 and 20 on June 15, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  16. Victor Ollagnier, in a cap, scrubs away graffiti like 'R.I.P' from a retaining wall at the MUHC.

    Solutions Graffiti employee Victor Ollagnier is one of a team of four cleaning the graffiti on the retaining walls in front of the MUHC that face onto Highway 20 on June 15, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  17. Two men do chinups on gym equipment, with graffiti on the back wall underneath the Bonaventure Overpass.

    Working out under the Bonaventure overpass in Old Montreal, surrounded by graffiti on August 18, 2023. In December 2020, these walls were untouched by graffiti artists. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  18. A man skateboards as he reads from his cellphone on the Lachine Canal path, framed by an industrial building along St-Patrick St.

    A skateboarder films his path along the Lachine Canal bike path in front of one of the many industrial buildings along St-Patrick St. on August 14, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  19. Mostly blue-and-white graffiti on an abandoned building on St-Patrick.

    Many of the abandoned industrial buildings on St-Patrick St. marked with graffiti on July 14, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  20. Graffiti adorns the grey concrete supports under the Rosemont Blvd. overpass.

    Graffiti on the supporting beams of the Rosemont Blvd. overpass on July 7, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  21. A man sits in the window seat at Lloydies restaurant, a graffiti-coated, yellow-facaded building, on St-Viateur St. as the blurred image of a cyclist whizzes by.

    A cyclist whizzes by the yellow façade and graffiti-covered side wall of Lloydies restaurant on St-Viateur St. on July 7, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  22. A Hassidic man in black garb and a woman in pants, shirt and sandals walk past yellow-blue graffiti tags on St-Viateur St.

    The streetscape on St-Viateur St. near St-Laurent Blvd. on July 7, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  23. Terraced retaining walls of the colourful MUHC complex are covered in graffiti.

    After a cleaning in May by Transport Quebec, new graffiti has returned to the retaining walls in front of the MUHC hospital complex on August 28, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  24. A former gas station with a yellow happy face sign still there, but otherwise covered in graffiti, with two cars parked outside.

    The buildings of a former gas station at the corner of St-Viateur and Clark Sts. on July 7, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  25. Graffiti on a railway tunnel near the Turcot Interchange as a green and yellow VIA train speeds by.

    Graffiti along the railway tracks in the newly constructed Turcot Interchange on June 4, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  26. A skateboarder walks along the bike path at Décarie and de Maisonneuve Blvds.

    A skateboarder walks along the bike path at Décarie and de Maisonneuve Blvds. on May 13, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  27. A man, with a woman dragging suitcases, walking in an alleyway along St-Laurent Blvd. in Montreal, framed by graffiti on building walls and a truck.

    Many of the alleyways that run along St-Laurent Blvd. have mural and graffiti adorning the rear walls of buildings, like this one near St-Cuthbert St. on May 9, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  28. A Vidéotron technician, in yellow hard hat, on a ladder with graffiti on a brick wall behind him near St-Cuthbert St.

    Many of the alleyways that run along Saint-Laurent Blvd. have murals and graffiti adorning the rear walls of buildings, like these near St-Cuthbert St. on May 9, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  29. Graffiti on a grey wall at the corner of Park Ave. and Rachel St. as a cyclist bikes by in the foreground.

    A cyclist passes by graffiti on the wall of a building at the corner of Park Ave. and Rachel St. on May 1, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  30. Beautys restaurant framed by graffiti walls all around, and a vintage-like mural.

    Graffiti — and a mural — surrounding Beautys at the corner of Mont-Royal Ave. and St-Urbain St. on May 1, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  31. Pedestrian in a quilted coat walks past red and green graffiti on a brown fence along Atwater Ave. above Notre-Dame St.

    Graffiti covers the fence along Atwater Ave., above Notre-Dame St. on April 29, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  32. A woman walks past a mural on the wall of restaurant La Catrina on St-Viateur. Graffiti tags now cover it.

    The mural on the wall of restaurant La Catrina, on St-Viateur St. on July 7, 2023, now includes graffiti. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  33. George Pork reflects in the still water of the Peel Basin in the Griffintown area of Montreal on May 23, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  34. The new REM track, with train whizzing by condo towers, and already graffiti lines the route.

    The brand new REM tracks in the Griffintown area, covered in graffiti already on May 23, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  35. An orange traffic barrier blocks entrance to graffiti-covered row houses on St-Urbain St.

    A stretch of old row houses on St-Urbain St. marked by graffiti on May 1, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  36. Graffiti coats a white domed tent structure near Parc Ovila-Pelletier as a man in shorts and cap walks by with a stroller.

    Graffiti adorns many of the surfaces of an enclosure near Parc Ovila-Pelletier on Ontario St. E. at Bennett Ave. on August 24, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  37. A woman with red umbrella walks through the graffiti-covered alley behind the Sherwin-Williams Paint store on Atwater Ave.

    The colourful alley behind the Sherwin-Williams paint store on Atwater Ave. on April 29, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  38. Graffiti on the top of tall buildings on Mill St.

    Graffiti artists climb to great heights to add their tags to buildings like this one on Mill St., just east of the Farine Five Roses Flour building. Image taken on May 22, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  39. A man walks by ggraffiti-filled alley next to the former Baron Byng High School on St-Urbain St.

    The alley next to the former Baron Byng high school on St-Urbain St. on May 1, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  40. From the archives: Youths at the 2007 12th annual Under Pressure graffiti festival, some on skateboards, others spraypainting on scaffolding.

    From the archives: Young adults from Canada and the U.S. were in Montreal on August 12, 2007 for the 12th annual Under Pressure graffiti festival behind Les Foufounes Électriques. Along with the graffiti artists, break dancers and skateboarders were on hand to show their stuff as well. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  41. From the archives: A graffiti artist, with spray paint in hand, works on a yellow-blue artwork at the 2007 12th annual Under Pressure graffiti festival.

    From the archives: Young adults from Canada and the U.S. were in Montreal on August 12, 2007 for the 12th annual Under Pressure graffiti festival behind Les Foufounes Électriques. Here, a graffiti artist at work. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  42. Cyclist rides past iconic city images plastered on a building — the Expos logo, Canadian flag, Farine Five Roses and CH vintage logo among them.

    A cyclist rides past iconic city images plastered on a building — including the Expos logo, Canadian flag, Farine Five Roses sign and CH vintage logo — on April 13, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  43. Shana Nirmala poses for Quentin Fourie in front of a purple-tinged mural of a gaping mouth on a building on St-Laurent Blvd. and Marie-Anne St.

    Shana Nirmala poses for her boyfriend, Quentin Fourie, in front of this colourfully painted building on the corner of St-Laurent Blvd. and Marie-Anne St. on November 8, 2022. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  44. Two cyclists in yellow jackets, on Bixis, ride past graffiti on an Atwater Ave. underpass.

    A couple of Bixi riders pass through the Ville-Marie underpass on Atwater Ave. on April 29, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  45. skateboarder Lachlan Roch practises his moves at graffiti-covered Van Horne skateboard park at St-Laurent Blvd.

    Graffit acts as a backdrop for skateboarder Lachlan Roch as he practises his moves at the Van Horne skateboard park at St-Laurent Blvd., under the Rosemont Blvd. overpass, on September 14, 2022. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  46. A jogger surrounded by graffiti on the Lachine Canal near the Peel Basin in Griffintown.

    A jogger runs past graffiti on the Lachine Canal near the Peel Basin in the Griffintown area on April 28, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  47. Graffiti artists crawled over the fenced-off area at the Peel Basin sluice gate to tag the concrete water basin.

    Graffiti artists crawled over the fenced-off area at the Peel Basin sluice gate to paint the water basin on April 27, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  48. Graffiti artists climb to great heights to do their graffiti work, including on these silos next to the Peel Basin on April 28, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  49. The setting sun illuminates the graffiti on clear panels along Highway 20 toward downtown Montreal.

    The setting sun illuminates the graffiti on clear panels along Highway 20 toward downtown Montreal on August 28, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

  50. Graffiti marks the roof of a building on Pitt St. with the city skyline behind it.

    Many of the buildings on and around Pitt St. have long been a favourite place for graffiti artists to display their work. Image taken August 29, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

So where do we draw the line? Downey is in an interesting and conceivably conflicting position here as both a champion of street art and an elected official.

“It’s not a complicated position for me. Even if I’m not an elected official, even if I’m just a citizen, there is a law that you’re not allowed to write on something without permission. A private-property owner can pursue you for damages. On public property, it’s the same thing. These people could get arrested, but are you going to put someone in jail for scribbling their name on a wall? So it’s usually just a slap on the wrist.” 

So graffiti, in whatever form and regardless of esthetic value, is still deemed vandalism when not sanctioned. 

“But It doesn’t mean that so-called vandalism can’t be art or creative,” Downey says. “When people understand the message or relate to the image, it’s not as threatening or as abrasive. There is a lot of truth in the saying ‘art is in the eye of the beholder.’ There are a lot of people who think that certain forms of vandalism are totally endearing, but it’s still illegal.” 

A man, with a woman dragging suitcases, walking in an alleyway along St-Laurent Blvd. in Montreal, framed by graffiti on building walls and a truck.
Many of the alleyways that run along St-Laurent Blvd. have murals and graffiti adorning the rear walls of buildings, like this one near St-Cuthbert St. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

Downey points out that a lot of what some perceive as annoyances are “signature graffiti” — an elaborate version of a tagger’s signature.  

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Monk.E. doesn’t disagree: “We can’t deny that calligraphy is an art form. It’s not completely devoid of creativity, even though the average citizen may see it as somewhat destructive.

“Many other wild urban scrawls are to me like the illegitimate brother of outdoor paid advertising. Even if the results are deplorable to many, they come from a feeling of wanting to be heard. I try to show some empathy, because it’s really not based in evil. It’s a reaction to over-commercialization.”  

Downey concurs: “Advertising on the métro system or on highways can be an eyesore to me. The city is riddled with this visual pollution, but it’s okay because someone has paid for it.” 

What really offends Downey, however, is hate graffiti. 

“It’s when people cross the line of freedom of speech and do things with the intention to harm, hurt or offend others. If I see a swastika on a wall, I take offence to that. It’s graffiti. It’s illegal. … There’s no place for that in our society, especially knowing that my father went overseas at 16 to fight against that. I draw the line on all hate-based anti-Semitic, homophobic, Islamophobic and racist graffiti,” says Downey, who is involved with the Projet Montréal file on street art. >

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Downey is also fully sensitive to the fact that small shopkeepers as well as office-building owners are frequently deluged with unwanted graffiti and that city ordinances require that these properties must be maintained untouched. He notes that the city does clean up the graffiti for free, but only with the permission of the property owners. Then again, it can take a long wait period for action and city crews tend not to perform these cleaning services in winter. 

An example of graffiti artists going to extremes: a yellow tag on the back of a highway sign at the interchange of Highways 20 and 15.
An example of graffiti artists going to dangerous extremes: a sign off St-Jacques St. at the interchange of Highways 15 and 20. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

Street art can also be a very risky business for its creators. 

“The two biggest risks in Montreal are either criminal prosecution or getting severely injured and far worse in action,” says Downey, referring to the deaths of the three teen taggers killed by a passing train under the Turcot interchange in 2010. “In cities like New York, there is an enormous amount of vigilantism, where graffiti writers have been shot. It hasn’t happened here.”  

“People may wonder why street artists go to such great lengths in the name of art,” adds Monk.E, also a world-beat musician with numerous recorded discs. “I think artists are there to comfort those in discomfort, but they are also there to shake up those who are too comfortable.

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“Because street artists like Zilon risked it all and had something to say, I believe that’s why this has become such an influential contemporary art movement. We have come from a marginalized, hated medium to one that I feel is the fastest-growing visual culture of our times.” 

Corey Fleischer, in black outfit and black gloves, power-washes away hate graffiti from the red brick side wall of the Bagg Street synagogue.
Corey Fleischer cleaning up at the Bagg Street synagogue: “My goal is to get the graffiti removed before anyone can see it, so it makes no impact whatsoever.” Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

Power-washing away hate, one scrawl at a time

With the serene gaze of Leonard Cohen peering over him — from a massive mural on the Main — Corey Fleischer is power-washing away some graffiti on the Bagg Street synagogue.

This time, it’s not swastikas on the front door he is removing, as was the case last March. But Fleischer has pledged to take down any scrawls that pop up on any house of worship in the city at no charge — as soon as it is reported. 

For 14 years, Fleischer has operated a side, pro-bono endeavour called Erasing Hate, wherein he literally erases all manner of anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, homophobic and racist scrawls sprouting up anywhere around the city. Word of his mission has since spread around the world. He is consulted by citizens and politicians alike on the best means possible to remove the offending graffiti.  

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Fleischer’s issue now is that he has been spending increasingly more time on Erasing Hate than on his own for-profit business, wherein he removes non-threatening graffiti from commercial and residential properties. 

Unfortunately, business has boomed on the hate front over the years.

“When I started with Erasing Hate, maybe I would get 15 or 20 messages a year for removal,” the 42-year-old Dollard-des-Ormeaux native says. “Today, sadly, it’s closer to 3,000 messages a year. Some days, I’ll get 10.  

“Over COVID, it kind of slowed down a bit. But as soon as COVID slowed down, there was a major spike. Sure, people could call the city to clean it up, but that can take a long time for results.” 

Fleischer estimates that anti-Semitic scrawls represent about 80 per cent of his erasures with homophobic graffiti next, followed by Black and Islamophobic scrawls. 

“It’s heavily swastikas, with the majority being anti-Semitic, but they’re also targeted to the LGBTQ+ and Muslim communities. It gets really nuts during election times, when scores of posters with the faces of the politicians are marked with swastikas. That’s when I really get anxious.” 

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Fleischer recently returned from visiting the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was asked to remove nearly 50 swastikas in the area. 

“This is not going away, here or around the world. It’s everywhere,” he says. “My goal is to get the graffiti removed before anyone can see it, so it makes no impact whatsoever. It’s at least an attempt to stop the cycle of hate before it mushrooms. For me, that’s more powerful than anything I can do. 

“The reality is that I really shouldn’t exist. The city should be there to do this instead.”  

Fleischer is quick to point out that he is a huge fan of the city’s mural scene and that the vast majority of our street artists are not hate-filled. 

“I’ve never been anti-graffiti. Many of the mural visuals created here are simply amazing. It’s art.” 

In the midst of removing the Bagg Street synagogue graffiti, Fleischer takes an admiring glance at the adjacent Cohen mural — created by Kevin Ledo.  

“If I could bring just one-hundredth of the goodwill to this city that Leonard Cohen has brought, I’d be a very happy man,” Fleischer opines. 

Cohen would likely concur that Fleischer has. And then some.

AT A GLANCE:

To reach Corey Fleischer, go to Erasing Hate on all social platforms. 

bbrownstein@postmedia.com 

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A misspelled memorial to the Brontë sisters gets its dots back at last

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September 26, 2024

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LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.

More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.

The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.

They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.

“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”

It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.

Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”

Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.

“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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