by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Some see graffiti writers as a public nuisance, scrawling illegible eyesores as a sort of territorial pissing. Others, like José Bernatchez, see many of them as larval Picassos who, given half a chance, will eagerly trade dubious street cred for artistic legitimacy.

"If the young guy who uses a marker to vandalize eventually does a graffiti wall for a store - gets paid for doing graffiti, using spray cans - he might totally change his mind," says Bernatchez. "Some will stay in vandalism because it's right for them, for their own personal choices, but it's nice to offer another way of doing graffiti."

The other way Bernatchez speaks of has many aspects, all of which materialize at the Centre de Diffusion en Art Subversif (Sub-V for short). Bernatchez is the founder and director of the tasteful, almost elegant space at 1126 de Maisonneuve E., and lays out its mandate like so: "First of all, we're a space for showing graffiti-art canvases. We also want to offer services, acting as agents for graffiti artists. We do contracts with stores, make backgrounds for theatre, every need. We're a documentary place for graffiti too - you can find all kinds of information about graffiti history, books, magazines, videos. We offer Web services and Net distribution of graffiti products. And all this is done by graffiti artists."

The Sub-V crew go to great lengths to maintain Internet ties with likeminded spaces and efforts across Canada (check www.bombingscience.com for more on that). Bernatchez further notes that, once the sculptures and graf T-shirt racks are rolled out of the way, Sub-V can double as an intimate show space. "We do these events called Rap Maudit, hosted by Khyro, a notorious MC from Atach Tatuq and Traumaturges. We have a bunch of MCs participate, and live jazz musicians - drums and double bass. The next one will have a subject - we'll choose a theme each month, so the MCs have a month to prepare a text." The events, like every aspect of Sub-V, are carefully documented - something graf writers obsess about, due to the ephemeral nature of their craft.

The paintings that adorn the walls are by writers from Montreal and Quebec, from B.C., NYC and Europe. "We have classics like Timer, who's been there since 12 years ago, and the new, fresh blood like Monkey, who also did our outside wall." The themes are wide open - Bernatchez only draws the line if he feels a work is "too soft."

"I have to say that sometimes - I can't show little flowers here. I don't know, it depends - maybe aggressive flowers? But nothing too clean. Not like the paintings my mother does. I love her," he grins, "but I can't show her stuff here."

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