A collaboration with MASSIVart, a creative brand agency under Arthur Gaillard’s curatorial direction, the restaurant’s art is both transient (the “graffiti” may disappear after a year as the restaurant’s design evolves) and emerging. With many unpainted canvases installed in the dining areas, street artists such as Alan Ganev, Jason Botkin, Bonar and Labrona have been producing new paintings while patrons dine. At writing, 25 per cent of the canvases remain blank. Even Ê.a.t’s music harmonizes with the powerful visuals with DJs crafting unique soundtracks played while artists work and clients dine. To round it off, waiters, trained to act as “artistic mediators” answering questions about the artistic content, are dressed by Montréal fashion designer Travis Taddeo. - - - - - - - - - - - - ---------------------------------------------------------While much of the restaurant’s original form was retained, highly textured surfaces such as oyster shell finishes on columns were stripped back, some walls were removed with others painted white and windows were uncovered. It was a process of creating what Pelland calls a “white out canvas space.” To reflect Montréal’s edgy culture with its deeply ingrained symbols and countless murals, artists WIA (aka Whatisadams) and Stikki Peaches (Montréal’s own anonymous Banksy) collaborated to create mixed media collages applied directly to the wall surfaces. Their contributions rework some of their best known images including both iconic hockey greats and “hockey hooligans” (Stikki), Pure Maple Sizzurp Cans (WIA) and street art portraits of famous composers (Stikki). Every wall from the entrance right up and including the bars is packed with these two artists. Some may be temporary; others may be “redeployed” into other buildings. ---------------------------------------------------------Illustrator and artist Jason Wasserman has inscribed large communal tables with cheeky images inspired by comic books, fantasy art and vintage illustration. Jason Cantoro’s curving “colour fields” embracing the restaurant’s booths may consist of dynamic printed shards of colour but they provide an almost restful counterpoint to the creative chaos of the layered urban street art. - - - - - - - - - - ---------------------------------------------------------“The era of dark dining is shifting toward a more intellectual approach,” concludes Pellard. “[Ê.a.t.] may be temporary; but it is not just an ephemeral stopgap, it is an unfolding event.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------------------------------------------• CANADIAN INTERIORS 7/8 2016
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Left: Stikki Peaches, collaborating with fellow artist WIA (AKA Whatisadams), has recreated his well-known gritty street art image of the “hockey Hooligan” facing off across from a Mozart-cum-classicalcomposer “fan.” Separating the two is a long table on which illustrator and artist Jason Wasserman has inscribed images inspired by comic books, fantasy art and vintage illustration. Below: Stikki Peaches and WIA’s graffiti images, such as this Darth Vader rift on a column, are seen as part of an unfolding process and thus some may survive while others will disappear over time.
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2016-07-12 8:19 AM