When the street becomes an open-air gallery, one only has to look up and wander through the alleys of Montreal to discover the art of CSRK. Since affixing his first outdoor collages in Montreal in 2015, CSRK has not only sought to share a personal universe but has also participated in the evolution of the identity of the urban spaces he occupies. His iconic characters are displayed like proud testimonies of his passage on the walls of Montreal, but also of Bordeaux and Paris.
Yet, through his artistic practice in the studio, CSRK transforms his street art into something more permanent, granting it a whole new legitimacy. The urgency imposed by the outdoor installation of his collages is no longer an issue, and he opts for a more permanent approach to his work using more lasting materials like acrylics, spray paint, and felt pens. The supports he chooses (wooden boards, road signs, and other objects linked to public space) not only evoke a direct relationship with the urban environment but also carry a natural patina, a testament to their history and connection to the city. The dialogue is thus established. Although the relationship to the city cannot be represented in its entirety, CSRK selects real samples on which he intervenes, thus giving street art a whole new value.
By nature, his outdoor collages are not eternal—from the moment the work is pasted, it can be subject to external degradation: it is covered, torn off, and the weather takes care of the rest. This is the beauty of his approach; only the spectator present at the right moment can enjoy it. A moment which, thereafter, will never be the same. This fragility reinforces the presence of the work as an invitation to dive into ourselves and to perceive our own impermanence. Thus, in a humorous and certainly playful way, CSRK proposes an introspective art, an art that connects.