Stikki Peaches | Box' Box' Pit-Side Posse
JUNE 2023View Video
Stikki Peaches’ works invite you to pause, analyze, and will likely leave you feeling nostalgic. His style is rooted in this spirit of reusing and recycling, where a myriad of techniques are combined to reveal what can be thought of as “beautifully controlled chaos”. His vibrant compositions feature the influential figures of his childhood, mythical characters, political leaders, and cultural icons. Stikki Peaches sees art as an escape, an outlet that allows him to move away from what hinders his growth as an artist and as a human. His tagline “What if Art Ruled the World?” fits this context. This question echoes the artist’s stance, suggesting that conflicts and disasters affecting our society would have no basis if the world were governed by art. Through his works, the artist invites the onlooker to contemplate the effect and importance of art. His practice aims ultimately to democratize it: by taking his work to the streets and incorporating pop culture references, he distances himself from elitism often associated with the contemporary art world.
Montreal-based graffiti artists Stikki Peaches and CDI Furniture have come together on a one-of-a-kind collection of distressed Chesterfield sofas for the launch of Bois & Cuir‘s new furniture store. The graffiti-covered sofas and divans form a collection called “CECI N’EST PAS UN DIVAN,” in which Stikki Peaches has taken the British design classic and given it a distressed finish. Sofas were given a street art-inspired rework with metal studs, spray paint, acrylic and painted Tunisian tiles each getting added to the leather upholstery.
ARTICLE IN FRENCH | En septembre 2018, l’ouverture du « premier musée du street art » canadien a fait grand bruit à Montréal, capitale des arts du pays. La promesse était belle : 24 étages investis par 24 artistes et ouverts au public 24 heures sur 24… Le tout orchestré par une marque d’alcool. Intrigués, nous sommes allés voir cela de plus près : visite.
On s’attendait à un bâtiment remarquable au premier coup d’œil,haut et entièrement peinturluré… Mais rien de tel ne nous attendait avenue de Gaspé. Dans cette artère calme du quartier du Mile-End, immeubles de logements et bureaux se serrent pour faire face au froid hivernal. Pas (ou presque) de vitrines – tout se trouve à l’intérieur des bâtiments. (...) C’est donc ici que s’est glissé, de façon plutôt discrète au premier abord, le musée Romeo’s, dédié au street art.
In his new solo show “Chiaroscuro : A Stikki Obsession” at Galerie LeRoyer, the artist Stikki Peaches is presenting 20 new Interpretive Hybrid works inspired by the paintings of Caravaggio and his School. Many of the artist’s favorite iconic characters are present. Such as his favorite musical artists Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse & Kurt Cobain, who all tragically died at age 27. This piece, originally titled Saint Cecilia with Two Angels by Caravaggio follower Antiveduto Gramatica, is now titled The 27 Club for the obvious reasons. The Lute Player as a psyched-out and surreal Jimi Hendrix.
ARTICLE IN FRENCH | Issu du monde du design de mode, l'artiste urbain Stikki Peaches s'est construit une réputation internationale avec ses oeuvres sur papier placardées sur des murs. Le Montréalais a réalisé cet été Young Dalí sur la façade d'un restaurant de la rue Prince-Arthur, une oeuvre qui mêle messages de paix, surréalisme et des éléments de sa personnalité, dont une partie reste dans l'ombre...
Willingly staying anonymous, Stikki Peaches pictures masked superheroes or overexposed fashion and movie icons that fascinated him as a child. Their faces are his playground. The Montreal-based artist gathers and superposes layers of paper, old magazines, comics, fabrics, reclaimed objects, then writes, spray-paints, tattoos and little by little transforms their irreproachable physique to convey his messages. He leaves his wheatpastes on the walls of Canadian, American and European cities. If you stumble upon one, do feast your eyes on it as his street works are all original pieces.
He is not like most other artists. Hell, he is not like most other people. He is a fast emerging Montreal artist, but he refuses to use his real name. He goes under the curious pseudonym of Stikki Peaches.
ARTICLE IN FRENCH | Autrefois perçu comme une « pollution visuelle », le street art est aujourd’hui porté aux nues, coté dans les enchères d’art et commandité de toutes parts. Dans la foulée, Montréal, où se tient depuis jeudi la cinquième édition du festival Mural, s’est taillé une place enviable dans le milieu mondial des arts de la rue et du graffiti.
VIDEO IN FRENCH | Rebecca Makonnen meets with artist Stikki Peaches for Formule Diaz tv Show, on Télé-Québec.
Since first flirting with street art in late 2008, operating entirely on instinct and without a clear purpose, Stikki’s surreal, eye-popping pastiches have built up a passionate following both online and IRL, with big-name fans of the Coco Rocha and Lady Gaga ilk.
ARTICLE IN FRENCH - “What if Art Ruled The World?” Dans son monde à lui, l’art est définitivement aux commandes. Composées à partir de collages, de pochoirs, de sérigraphies ou de peinture acrylique, ses œuvres sont inspirées par la culture pop, mais aussi par les souvenirs de son enfance, et un père qui a eu une grande influence sur lui.
I entered Stikki Peaches’ industrial studio to find the Montreal artist hard at work on yet another exciting piece. He was in the midst of placing paint can tops over the eyes of a giant John Travolta laid out against the wall, while CHOM 97.7 blared in the background.
ARTICLE IN FRENCH - Le mystérieux artiste aime apporter sa touche personnelle aux visages connus en combinant peinture, graffiti et objets trouvés. Batman, Brigitte Bardot, Darth Vader et Frank Sinatra reviennent souvent dans ses oeuvres. Découvert grâce à des collages illégaux dans les ruelles de Montréal, il vend maintenant son travail aux collectionneurs d'art à fort prix. Stikki Peaches explique à Catherine Perrin pourquoi il tient à conserver l'anonymat.
