Montréal-based street artist Roadsworth first endeared himself to me by using his stencils to create illegal bike paths where there were none, in response to the municipal government’s then lack of accommodation for cyclists. His artistic pieces have been some of my favourite in town for many years - they’re extremely playful, topical, and play off of their environment in a way that makes people take notice of the urban environment.

While walking down the street at mid-day several years ago I stumbled across a stencil of an owl on the sidewalk. It was obviously Roadsworth, but I was stumped as to why he had placed it at the bizarre angle he had chosen. His pieces almost always play off their location, but I was confused about the meaning of this one. I passed a few nights later, and realized that the owl was in fact perching on the diagonally-falling shadow of a street light.

He gained fame in 2004 for his much-publicized legal problems after being caught stenciling on a public road. I had feared that his work would never return, but it seems that him and the city have put their problems behind them, and Roadsworth is now doing some commissions here and there. Spacing Montréal’s Christopher DeWolf has a gallery of his recent work.