"From Hood to Hollywood" A'shop takes over the Montreal museum of fine arts

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ extravagant masked soiree, “Eyes Wide Open”, is a signature piece of Jean-François Bouchard, vice president of the new show creation at Cirque du Soleil, and one of the most prestigious and glamorous events of the year. The annual soiree is a fundraising event for the Museum, and this year A’Shop was a proud sponsor by providing a custom built nine-piece ‘HOLLYWOOD’ letter installation that was themed around iconic actors and classic movies of cinema’s golden era.

   The installation was massive in size alone - measuring 8 feet tall and 55 feet together in total length – and each one of the letters was designed, fabricated, and custom painted by a renowned Montreal graffiti artist:  Arpi (H), Serak (O), Fluke (L), Axe (L), Hsix (Y), Zek (W), Omen (O), Scan (O), and Ose (D). We put a lot of sweat and time into these pieces and we were proud to see them being used for a good cause.  Situated at the imposing entrance staircase to the main hall, our installation welcomed everyone to the event and was a complete hit with the crowd:  guests were blown away and could be caught admiring the works throughout the evening.

  Having our pieces prominently up in the Fine Arts Museum, being guests of honour, and to be mixing with such a high profile crowd, was a huge contrast to our day to day lives. As graffiti artists, it's not every day that we get to do the moonwalk on the red carpet in suits and sip the best of champagnes. The event itself was mind blowing, filled with amazing décor, luscious food and drinks, and stunning costumes and performances. If only every weekend could be like this!