Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.
(Liberty, Equality, Fraternity)
(February, 2022)
Le Baratin (1600 Dundas ST W, Toronto ON)
6ft tall by 3ft wide
Medium: Chalkboard paint, Hard body acrylics
Working on this project was very fun experience. It was really cool to have met the owner of the restaurant when I was working on the exterior wall for Dundas West Open Air Museum, the owner of the restaurant contacted me after stopping the mural due to the weather getting really cold and unbearable to work in, he ended up wanting something inside his restaurant as well. He really wanted to keep to the French aesthetic he beautifully created within this warm and cozy store. He wanted the lettering "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité." which holds a lot of meaning in the French culture.
He got the idea from the ever so popular OBEY GIANT otherwise knows as Sheppard Fairy. In 2018 he created a piece that consisted of the saying "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité." and had a woman's face, all done with stencil work. Using Sheppard Fairy's beautiful piece I drew inspiration to please my clients vision. Of course as an artists I am completely inspired by OBEY GIANTS meaning behind the artwork and his eye for making simplistic but effective pieces. To pull from his work was truly an inspiring feeling. I've never used such little amounts of colour, but it was a really nice change to see my work in a different light!
I wanted the piece to fit in the environment of Le Baratin Restaurant, adding in the pops of red and green worked perfectly with the interior colours, and also added another element into the black and white painting.
"Liberty, or the right to live freely and without oppression or undue restriction from the authorities, is a core value in a democratic society. So too is equality. This is not only about treating each other as equals, but also that every person is viewed equally under the law. Fraternity is not about gender or college social clubs – though the gender connotation absolutely existed when the motto was first uttered – but rather that we should all be kind and supportive to one another. At its core, it’s about solidarity – we’re all partners in building and maintaining the safe, free and fair society we all want to live in." - link to publication
