No, not childbirth. This is about the origins of a brilliant company and the birth of one particularly staggering work of art.  A’Shop is a Montreal production company that does large-scale murals, live performances, decor, canvas art and custom design work. Founded by a group of former graffiti artists, they’ve taken the risk out of street art (and are actually making a living at it!). 

While much of their work has obvious roots in graffiti, the piece above, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (Our Lady of Grace), is distinctly Art Nouveau in flavor.  The piece is truly epic.  Just the planning that had to go into this enormous piece is inconceivable, and the art is so beautifully balanced and evocative that it gives me chills.  Inspired by Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha, the work took 500 cans of spray paint, 50 colors, and 5 artists who worked for 16 consecutive days from daybreak to sunset.

“Our city has way too much gray. So I hope this [mural] kickstarts a mural campaign.”  -Fluke, President of A’Shop

I’m not going to say anything else about it. Just watch the video of them creating the piece. It’s really incredible.