Montreal street art tours: Discovering the hidden murals of Montreal

Montreal is home to the annual MURAL festival each June as well as Under Pressure, an edgier August event which creates a street party vibe as the art is painted.Credit: Bonjour Quebec

There are times when it's better to be loitering in an alleyway behind a popular music venue than standing at its entrance, and one of those times is now. That's because it's the middle of the day when no gig is scheduled, and there's a fabulous piece of art to see at the rear of Montreal's Club Soda.

As we peer at the brickwork, it seems to be covered with random splotches of colour. But our guide, Thomas, patiently points out the form of a musician playing a cello. Who knew? Now he's opened my eyes, I can see other musicians among the colours: a trumpeter, an electric guitar player, and what looks like Ray Charles in full voice, stretching over a door recess.

I would never have found this art without help, but that's the point of the All About Montreal's Murals tour. Starting in the city's Entertainment District (better known as the Quartier des Spectacles), this reveal of the city's plentiful murals wends its way through commercial areas and residential neighbourhoods, via laneways and main streets, to show off dozens of big public works.

There's always something new to see along its streets, if you know where to look.Credit: Bonjour Quebec

Montreal is home to the annual MURAL festival each June as well as Under Pressure, an edgier August event which creates a street party vibe as the art is painted. As a result there's always something new to see along its streets, if you know where to look. That's where Thomas comes in, taking us to the best pieces over two hours while discussing the role of such work.

"We could go back to the art of the 1920s Mexican revolution, or that painted on the Berlin Wall," he says. "People have long expressed themselves via public art."

That's still happening on the rear wall of Henri Henri, a famous local hatter, where we see a complex mural featuring a woman next to black and white horses, doves, and chess pieces. According to Thomas it's a collaboration referencing the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

Nearby, behind alternative music venue Les Foufounes Electriques, is a more whimsical work depicting a steampunk version of a Wild West setting – with a robot soldier in a sombrero riding a mechanical pig into town, pursuing a mechanical bank robber. It's a fun piece with a lot of colour and action.

At the more soothing end of the spectrum is a series of murals we encounter as we walk past apartment blocks, each of which has a season depicted on its end wall. "Autumn" is particularly calming, with its impressionistic mix of orange-yellow leaves against the green of a park in which people are picnicking and playing football.

There's a lot more to see as we stroll, including murals of a woman floating cross-legged above a landscape of pyramids and a stairway to heaven; a boy stretching a slingshot above a small local restaurant; a huge piece by a Colombian artist above a carpark, depicting vivid faces within faces; and a quirky mural on a side street which shows heads sprouting flowers with labels such as "arts" and "science" in a tribute to education.

For me, however, the most moving mural is a vast portrait of a man's face, superimposed with the word "Personne". In French that means "nobody", and it's a comment by artist Axel Void about the marginalisation of people with mental health issues. Ironically, says our guide, the model, Adrian, lived in the same building that his face now covers – and thus became impossible to ignore.

It's food for thought as we walk past the remaining murals on the tour, finishing at a carpark surrounded by art from the MURAL festival. The piece that most catches my eye is a variant of the Mona Lisa with a big yellow smiley-face, within which sits a grinning skull. It's a timely reminder that nothing lasts forever. Even street art.

THE DETAILS

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guidatour.qc.ca

mtl.org

FLY

Air Canada flies to Montreal via Vancouver. See aircanada.com

STAY

Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth is a centrally-located hotel with colourful mid-century decor, and rooms from $C330 a night. See fairmont.com

TOUR

All About Montreal's Murals tour costs $C26 a person. See guidatour.qc.ca

Tim Richards was a guest of Destination Canada https://travel.destinationcanada.com/ Accor Hotels https://all.accor.com/ and Tourism Montreal.

Tourism Montreal https://www.mtl.org/