Sterling Downey
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Sterling Downey | |
|---|---|
| Montreal City Councillor for Desmarchais-Crawford | |
| Assumed office 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Alain Tassé |
| Personal details | |
| Party | Projet Montréal |
Sterling Downey is a Canadian artist, festival organizer, and politician in Montreal, Quebec. He is a founding member and principal organizer of the Under Pressure graffiti art festival in the city and has served on the Montreal city council since 2013 as a member of Projet Montréal.
Downey was born in Montreal.[1] Both his parents died when he was in his mid-20s, a development that he has acknowledged caused him to enter a "massive" state of depression during this time. He credits the culture of graffiti art with helping him through those years of his life.[2]
Downey was a co-founder of Under Pressure in 1995. He has acknowledged that the first festival was intended as a joke, undertaken in response to crackdowns from the city and police; this notwithstanding, he has also said that the festival eventually became a means of keeping debates around graffiti in the public eye and of informing skeptical Montrealers of different sides to the issue.[3] Under Pressure is now the longest running graffiti festival in the world, with the Drogheda Bridge Jam being the longest running graffiti event.[4]
Downey has frequently commented on various issues surrounding graffiti art, including its legal status and the motivations of its creators.[5] "You're doing it for free," he said in 2001. "You have to accept that it may disappear or be crossed out the next day."[6] He has acknowledged the ethical dilemmas of the practice, describing the art as, "illegal, but romantic," and at one point saying, "If I go and paint something on a building without permission, I must take responsibility for my actions. I know right from wrong."[7] In the 2010s, he encouraged a group of youth from the Pointe-Saint-Charles YMCA to protect a mural in their area from vandalism; in relation to this matter, he has said, "If you want to change the direction of something, you need to use positive actions, not negative ones."[8]
In 2006, Downey invited city councillor Marcel Tremblay to come to the Under Pressure festival, after Tremblay had publicly advocated for a new law targeting graffiti artists.[9] Tremblay accepted the offer and had an extended conversation with Downey during the event. Downey remarked that he respected Tremblay for doing this, even if their viewpoints were ultimately different.[10]
Downney subsequently branched out into advertising and became the creative director of a group called Faux Amis. He organized an event called the Sneaker Pimps Tour in 2008, featuring 1,500 editions of rare sneakers.[11]
In 2014, Downey argued that graffiti artists should receive credit for the use of their images in copyrighted media such as movies and video games.[12]