Featured Canadian Graffiti Artist: EGR | The Evolution of Toronto Street Art

Welcome to the www.graffitiisart.com featured artist series! Today, we spotlight EGR, a pioneering Canadian graffiti artist and muralist whose expressive work has helped define Toronto street art for decades. Known for her sexy, whimsical, visually dynamic and sometimes political approach to aerosol art, EGR's history is crucial to understanding Canadian graffiti culture.

Looking to own a piece of her work? Check out the EGR Collection on our product page: Shop EGR's Featured Products.

Artist Name and Origin

The talented artist behind the moniker EGR is Erica B. Hailing from Burlington, Ontario. Based in the GTA, her tag—pronounced e-grr—is an abbreviation of her original tag, "Eager." She purposefully adopted the more androgynous moniker to challenge stereotypes in the often male-dominated graffiti scene, ensuring the focus remained on the artistic expression (Source: EGR: Badass Graffiti Artist).

History and Style

EGR's artistic foundation is rich, blending formal training in art, illustration, and printmaking, with her core passion for figure drawing, spray paint, multi media and DIY culture. She emerged after the birth of the hip hop and graffiti art movement, quickly establishing a highly distinctive style that is energetically charged, and deeply connected to music and pop culture. Her work aims to enlighten and inspire change, using the public wall as a powerful canvas for dialogue.

Accomplishments and Commentary

EGR's impact is documented both on the streets and in prestigious publications around the globe, beginning with a decade of illustrations for The Globe & Mail newspaper's Facts & Arguments page. Her pieces have been featured in major international art books, including Graffiti World and Graffiti Women.

Key works and achievements include:

• The "Evolution of Graffiti and Revolt" Mural: This highly influential large-scale piece was EGR's artistic rebuttal to the problematic city-wide removal and ticketing of graffiti in Toronto during a period in the 2010s [01:52]. The work illustrates how painting over existing graffiti, which is a natural part of its evolution, only leads to a "revolt" where vandalism—the primal form of expression—starts right back where it began [02:10].

• Album Artwork: She has created original visuals for album covers for recording artists like Decon Media's Afu Ra, Toronto's IRS and Juno nominated Brassmunk's animated music video. Her art has appeared on products and activations for luxury brands and retailers from car companies to cosmetics and even guitars, pedals and shipping containers. 

• Vintage Spray Cans: She created unique collectibles known as EGR Art on Vintage Spray Cans, an innovative method to preserve scenes from her ephemeral street murals like the Alley Girl (Source: Still Tho: Aesthetic Survival in Hip-Hop's Visual Art).

Recent Press and Video Feature

EGR remains an active and relevant voice in the contemporary art world. She was featured discussing her roots as part of the 2018 exhibition, Everything Remains Raw: Photographing Toronto's Hip Hop Culture from Analog to Digital at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. From 2022-23, touring Canadian exhibition Still Tho: Aesthetic Survival in Hip-Hop's Visual Art, traveled to galleries in Ottawa, Halifax and Montreal to Tokyo, Japan and London UK where EGR spoke at Canada House Gallery about her personal experience and history, alongside Northside Hip Hop Archive.

You can watch the interview and hear EGR's commentary on the evolution of graffiti and the challenges artists faced below:

EGR for Everything Remains Raw - Graffiti in Toronto

via: McMichael Canadian Art Collection

EGR is a vital force in the world of street art. Her commitment to powerful messaging and unique aesthetic ensures her place as a legend in Canadian graffiti.

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