Mural by Annie Hamel

This work brings together a street-art vocabulary and a urban approach. Its value does not come from applying decoration to architecture: the mural gains meaning through its scale, its surface and the way it is encountered in a real place.

Annie Hamel weaves murals. Not metaphorically — literally. Her works depict fabrics, embroidery, and monumental textiles that appear to drape over concrete facades as though the city itself had wrapped itself in a handmade shawl. It is a visual signature unlike any other, celebrating female craftsmanship, textile memory, and the beauty of everyday life with astonishing technical mastery. > “My approach combines the rigor of classical painting with mural-scale monumentality to magnify the identity of places and the people who inhabit them. I rely on an aesthetic rich in patterns and intricate details so that the work naturally anchors itself within its environment.” With 25 years of practice, Annie Hamel is one of the most respected and original voices in Montreal’s muralist scene. Based in Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, she created in this multicultural neighborhood her most emblematic work: a mural depicting an immense embroidered fabric that has become a true landmark for local residents — a visual gathering point in a district shaped by intersecting cultures and migrations. Her specialty, textile trompe-l’œil, is an invention entirely her own. Her murals portray landscapes made of fabrics, traditional motifs from around the world, and colorful textiles that transform concrete walls into surfaces of unexpected softness and intimacy. This work also stands as a tribute to female craftsmanship — embroidery, weaving, sewing — practices long dismissed as “minor arts,” which she elevates to the scale of public monuments. Her tribute to Lhasa de Sela, the beloved Montreal singer who passed away in 2010, reflects her ability to create works that anchor meaningful figures within the urban fabric of the community. Her approach to public art is rooted in listening, research, and a deep relationship to place — patient, rigorous, and generous.

Annie Hamel, whose practice is connected with Montreal, develops a visual world that can be followed from one wall to another. Captions and archives connected to this body of work document several mural interventions. These points of reference place the image within a practice rather than treating it as an isolated visual.