RUNT (Augusto Monk ). Rating: NNN
For any long-time Torontonian, street artist RUNT’s work is so ubiquitous – adorning the outside of Lee’s Palace, in one form or another, for instance, for nearly three decades – that you probably don’t even notice it any more. It’s simply part of the urban landscape. Augusto Monk’s hour-long documentary, screening as part of the Toronto Independent Film Festival, gives the man his due.
Monk follows the artist as he creates a new mural on the wall in the alley next to Electric Mud BBQ, but there’s little tension or arc. Talking heads – culture critic Donna Lypchuk, city councillor Josh Colle, who owns a RUNT painting – put his work into context.
But RUNT himself doesn’t get a chance to display much personality. When he’s working, he’s working – sometimes perched precariously on a ladder – and probably doesn’t want to be disturbed. At one point, concentrating, he forgets that blue is a primary colour.
There are many missed opportunities. When the now 50-something RUNT talks about his carrot-topped punk look in the 80s, it’s a shame we don’t see an accompanying picture. And I’d love know if he was influenced by the counterculture comics movement of the 60s.
Still, because those huge murals are often experienced as a riot of colour and activity, it’s great to have Monk home in on certain details that are full of life, energy and – as the artist’s youngest fan, Nolan, suggests – enough drama to make you wonder what’s going to happen next.
