Gene Pen­don is the artist behind the mur­al Tow­er of Songs, Hom­mage à Leonard Cohen, in Mon­tre­al. Hel has a Bach­e­lors degree in Fine-Arts (draw­ing and paint­ing) from Con­cor­dia Uni­ver­si­ty. In 1998, he co-found­ed Heavy­weight Pro­duc­tion House (HVW8), now based in Mon­tre­al and in Los Ange­les. He also co-cre­ates the Heavy­weight Art Instal­la­tion, an inter­na­tion­al project that part­ners live paint­ing to music and to urban cul­tures. He lives in Mon­tre­al, Canada.