New L. Basil McMahon and Jordan Bent Mural Collaboration at 45W

Apr 14, 2010 | Comments 0

Street Art Mural by L. Basil McMahon and Jordan Bent

This mural was painted at 45 West Hastings (alley entrance wall) in Vancouver, BC- a collaboration between L. Basil McMahon and east van painter Jordan Bent. The mural was supported by the 45 West performing arts studio, David Duprey and the City of Vancouver’s Great Beginnings initiative. This was the second mural that McMahon and Bent have teamed-up on, the first was an indoor wall at the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addictions
McMahon describes the project:

“As artists, it is important to recognize the role we play in the gentrification of marginalized neighbourhoods. While we may not catalyze the upheaval that gentrification causes, we certainly are complicit in it, and in some ways we arguably help facilitate that process, right? by making all the public surfaces look beautiful, we are paving the way for more pervasive forms of development in the street-level public sphere- it makes the neighbourhood more attractive to wealthy people who want to live amongst creative people.

But what if the creative people, current residents, and community that makes up the downtown eastside cannot afford to live in their neighbourhood any longer, once rent and property value and the cost of ammenities increases dramatically after more affluent new residents move in? What happens when the creative people who make the DTES the most vibrant community in the city are forced out by the invisible hand?”

Find out more about L.Basil McMahon on his website or flickr pages.