Labrona

Labrona is one of Canada’s most well-known street artists. He has been a fixture on the Canadian and international street art scene for close to twenty years. Labrona was born in Magog Quebec in 1972 but grew up in Ottawa Ontario. 

​He moved to Montreal in 1997 to attend Concordia University’s art program from which he graduated in 2001. It was during his time at art school that he was introduced to the Montreal graffiti scene. He has said that he received two educations at once, one in art school and the other in the train yards and on the streets painting with his friend and mentor, Canadian street art legend other aka Troy Lovegates. 

​His artistic influences are many but he cites the countless nights spent painting with his friends as the most important. His father who is an architect and an accomplished artist played a huge role in his development. As a child he loved comic books and skateboarding and was greatly influenced by the colorful graphics that adorn the bottom of the boards.  During university he spent a lot of time in the library pouring through books but was the most impressed with the works of the German expressionist, the Mexican muralist, Byzantine and Flemish religious iconography traces of which are found in his work.

​In 2004 Labrona appeared in one of the seminal books of its time on the street art and graffiti scene: Graffiti World. The book helped him receive wide recognition for his work and he was soon approached by galleries from around the world. He has exhibited his work in galleries all over Europe and North America and has had major shows in Los Angeles, Paris, New York, London and Montreal. 

​Labrona now spends most of his time creating works in the studio and doing mural commissions. Last summer he and his friend Troy Lovegates were hired by both the city of Toronto and Ottawa to create large scale public murals. He has also been involved in many international mural festivals lately which allows him to travel and paint large scale pieces. He has participated in the Living Walls festival in both Atlanta and Albany, the Wall Therapy festival in Rochester, the Painted Desert project in Arizona, the Montreal mural festival and many more.