‘Romantic street painting’ or ‘renaissance graffiti’? Joshua Petker spent years as a graffiti artist in California and Europe before painting portraits of ladies. But he hasn’t hung up his hoodie in favour of crustless cucumber sandwiches just yet. His work reeks of punk, with explosions of brash colours and bloody, textured details. And he often uses second-hand canvases, giving each piece a hidden history. [see also the work of Canadian artist, Dan Ryan]

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I went to Dan Ryan’s show a month or so back — conveniently held a block from our home — and really loved some of his paintings. His use of blacks and other darker colors was what really drew me in. The way he depicted nature was something I haven’t really seen from other artists in Toronto . The two of us had a funny conversation about someone asking him if his paintings would appreciate in value. I told him he should have responded with, ‘Yes, they will you fucking idiot. Now hand over your money’. I hope to own one of his paintings in the next week or so.