Publicité Sauvage
Bringing Montreal Street Art In from the Cold: Publicité Sauvage at L’Affichiste
From Sub-Culture to Mainstream, the Evolving Poster Art of Publicité Sauvage
Montreal – On November 6, 2014, L’Affichiste, Montreal’s only poster gallery, will launch its inaugural poster exhibition series with a show dedicated to the art and posters of Publicité Sauvage, the Montreal poster powerhouse founded 25 years ago by Baudoin Wart.
Isabelle Jalbert from Publicité Sauvage and L’Affichiste’s Karen Etingin chose 50 posters from the company’s vast poster archives that they feel best illustrate the design and graphic development of Publicité Sauvage from a group rag-tag poster hangers to Montreal’s most powerful outdoor street advertising crews. From Sub-Culture to Mainstream, the Evolving Poster Art of Publicité Sauvage examines the aesthetics of contemporary, urban posters within the specific context of Montreal.
In 2012, realizing that young collectors have both limited budgets and a more modern aesthetic than established aficionados, L’Affichiste began to actively acquire modestly-priced locally produced posters, and a partnership with Publicité Sauvage was born. Says Etingin, “We love colorful, irreverent and slightly outrageous posters: not only do they make us smile, they brighten up every room in the house. We’re thrilled to work with Baudoin and his team, and to support the local artistic community by bringing street art inside, where it can be appreciated and acquired.”
From Sub-Culture to Mainstream, the Evolving Poster Art of Publicité Sauvage opens November 6, 2014 and runs through November 20, 2014.
ABOUT PUBLICITÉ SAUVAGE:
Baudoin Wart founded Publicité Sauvage, a Montreal-based, poster-centric company, a little over 25 years ago. The company originally functioned as a type of guerilla poster hanging operation: working in the dead of night, one step ahead of the police (at that time poster-hanging in public spaces was against the law), and dripping with wheat paste glue, Baudoin and his cohorts posted advertisements for cultural events, festival and exhibitions on hoardings and buildings in and around Montreal.
Wart jokes that he worked to change the laws regarding poster hanging because he got tired of being fined for trespassing. A quarter of a century after he founded Publicité Sauvage, the company is now regarded as one of the city’s most successful small businesses, and in 2012 it was awarded the Prix Arts-Affaires by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. Publicité Sauvage owns the largest private poster archive in Quebec, with over 40,000 pieces, many created by local artists and advertising agencies, including Tomasz Walenta, Stephane Huot, OrangeTango and Paprika.
ABOUT L’AFFICHISTE:
Karen Etingin, the owner of L’Affichiste and a poster collector for more than 30 years, works with private, corporate and institutional poster collectors from around the world. A proud member of the International Vintage Poster Dealer Association, L’Affichiste boasts a collection of over 4,000 pieces from around the world, including posters from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, mid-century advertising cartons and tins, and an impressive selection of political and propaganda posters.