If you're one of the tens of thousands of people following the subreddit r/montreal, you might have seen the work of the Montreal-based artist Alex Kasyan: Pen and marker drawings of street corners, landmarks and businesses around the city—from the Loyola campus of Concordia University to the Dairy Queen in Villeray—that capture the city intricately in fine lines.
It's a project that's been ongoing since March this year, just before the city first locked down.
"This drawing project was rather unplanned," Kasyan explains. "I was at Local Legend bar on Saint Laurent with my drawing pad, pens and markers, just enjoying a drink and a late night ambience of a great Montreal bar. I wanted to take a break from my main studio work which was a series of portrait paintings and do something different."
"Drawing an atmosphere of a busy bar was a new challenge for me, one that I was not too familiar with," says Kasyan. "What I enjoyed about this approach is the light setup that allowed me to show up anywhere and produce an image that would be an interpretation of that moment in time."
Since that first drawing, Kasyan began picking locations he found interesting and began drawing them from life, posting them online to a lot of praise from locals and beyond. "I was pleasantly surprised to see a large number of people on social media connect with these drawings," he said. "Some of the places I drew have a meaning or great memories to many Montrealers and city’s visitors."
Originally from Tbilisi, Georgia, Kasyan moved to Montreal at the age of 14. After his first art class at the age of 15, he went on to complete a degree in Illustration from Dawson College, followed by an apprenticeship at New York City's Water Street Atelier under Jacob Collins. He then returned to Montreal for the BFA program in Fine Art at Concordia University, and has since struck out on his own as an independent artist. He's competed in several international art competitions and has most recently exhibited his past work at the Museum of European Modern Art in Barcelona in December 2019 as part of Figurativas exhibition.
"I never stop learning and alway look for new challenges, which is exactly what gave birth to this recent drawing project," Kasyan told Time Out.
"I work on this drawing series because it directly responds to the reasons why I became an artist. I am capable of expressing my interpretation of the world around me through these drawings," he said on the subject of what his work tried to communicate. "I love Montreal and am able to share my admiration of this great city though my art. I enjoy being outdoors and drawing things and scenes from life. In my opinion, it is this simple and straightforward approach that creates a positive dialogue between my work and the audience."
Kasyan says the series was inspired by the work of the American artist James Gurney. "He is able to pick the most ordinary subject such as a parking lot or airport, get his tools out and in a matter of hours come up with the most beautiful artwork on the spot," the artist explained. Kasyan also works on portraiture and figurative work which, according to him, draws inspiration from the likes of Ilya Repin, John Sargent Singes, Edgar Maxence, Ramon Casas, Valentin Serov, William Bouguereau, John William Waterhouse and other masters of realism.
Like many independent artists, Kasyan has found the pandemic effecting his work. "Just prior to (the outbreak), I was working on a portrait series at my studio. People would come over and pose for a period of 5 hours from life," he said. "Of course, that had to come to an end."
"With the museums and art galleries being closed down, I decided to shift my focus for the 2020. Now I work mainly outdoors and focus on drawing the city, interiors or objects instead of people."
As galleries and museums remain far more inaccessible than before, social media presented a main avenue for Kasyan to reach audiences. "I started offering affordable art prints through my Etsy store," says Kasyan, noting that he is currently planning a potential exhibition with a cultural centre in Montreal. "If all goes well, we will hold an exhibition of my drawing series in 2021."
Find Alex Kasyan on Instagram; prints of his work can be purchased online via his website or his store on Etsy.
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