Leonard Cohen's hometown of Montreal is already plotting an exhibition at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal to pay tribute to the late singer this fall, and now he's being honoured with a more permanent artistic installation.
A massive mural will be painted on the side of a 20-storey building in downtown Montreal. Situated on Crescent Street just north of Saint Catherine Street, the huge painted tribute will be visible from some of the city's busiest vantage points — De Maisonneuve Boulevard, Sherbrooke Street and the lookout from atop Mount Royal.
Mayor Denis Coderre confirmed the project yesterday (April 11), in a tweet that translates to: "Between now and September, this magnificent wall in downtown Montreal will become a magnificent, 8,500-square-metre mural of Leonard Cohen."
The announcement also arrived with a photo of the mural's soon-to-be home, and it looks as if it should provide the perfect towering blank concrete canvas needed for the undertaking.
The mural will be a part of the Montreal's Great Artists series that launched in 2010, commissioned by the non-profit community group MU. Previous honourees include Oscar Peterson, Oliver Jones and Mordecai Richler. The group has selected Gene Pendon (a.k.a. Starship) and El Mec to paint the Cohen mural, though the complete design has yet to be revealed and will have to be approved by members of the late singer's family before painting actually begins.
Work is expected to begin on the project in June, with the final mural set to be unveiled by September.
Cohen passed away last November at the age of 82. Pick up a copy of The Songs of Leonard Cohen via Umusic.
A massive mural will be painted on the side of a 20-storey building in downtown Montreal. Situated on Crescent Street just north of Saint Catherine Street, the huge painted tribute will be visible from some of the city's busiest vantage points — De Maisonneuve Boulevard, Sherbrooke Street and the lookout from atop Mount Royal.
Mayor Denis Coderre confirmed the project yesterday (April 11), in a tweet that translates to: "Between now and September, this magnificent wall in downtown Montreal will become a magnificent, 8,500-square-metre mural of Leonard Cohen."
The announcement also arrived with a photo of the mural's soon-to-be home, and it looks as if it should provide the perfect towering blank concrete canvas needed for the undertaking.
Ce magnifique mur au centre-ville deviendra d'ici septembre prochain une magnifique murale 8500pi2 de Leonard Cohen #CollectionBatisseursmu pic.twitter.com/EFwZtvGMk3
— DenisCoderre (@DenisCoderre) April 11, 2017
The mural will be a part of the Montreal's Great Artists series that launched in 2010, commissioned by the non-profit community group MU. Previous honourees include Oscar Peterson, Oliver Jones and Mordecai Richler. The group has selected Gene Pendon (a.k.a. Starship) and El Mec to paint the Cohen mural, though the complete design has yet to be revealed and will have to be approved by members of the late singer's family before painting actually begins.
Work is expected to begin on the project in June, with the final mural set to be unveiled by September.
Cohen passed away last November at the age of 82. Pick up a copy of The Songs of Leonard Cohen via Umusic.
