The Forks, Winnipeg

Walking around The Forks area in Winnipeg (oh so many weeks ago now!) in search of Indigenous feminist public sculptures (which I posted about here), I had to cross the pedestrian bridge over the Assiniboine River. Looking up I noticed a brightly painted bicycle; I figured it was a piece of public sculpture, but could find no information or artist credit anywhere. I wondered about the large area behind it too, but when I continued walking ...

the mural, by Mike Valcourt was revealed.

The heritage marker for the Red River was a fascinating sculpture that required close inspection .I should have taken some more detailed pictures at the time, because I could find no information, artist credit or pictures when I googled it later (I thought I would). 

The pedestrian bridge was a perfect spot to view the smaller Assiniboine River meeting up with the larger Red River. Across the water is St Boniface, a predominantly French-speaking area of Winnipeg, where Canadian author Gabrielle Roy grew up.

 

Protectour at Port Laoise

After several years of working on it, Protectour by James Hayes, was finally finished and launched on Culture Night 2022 (Sept 23). I got to see it beforehand, however, as we had stopped by Port Laoise to view the finished work on our way out west at the end of August. 

It is made of polished concrete with stainless steel features and includes a time capsule to be opened in 50 years. This is located in the bottom section of the stainless steel feature on the central portal and was designed by Hayes to be accessible by the Laois Arts Office at that future date. 

The work is highly visible from a number of locations and will be a durable meeting point in the town with its location very near to the O'Moore Park GAA grounds.

It is also very close to the O'Moore roundabout, which is named after one of the seven septs (clans) of Laois that were transplanted from Laois to the southwest of Ireland (Munster) in the historic transfer of power that the sculpture also references.

The shadows cast by the central portal of the sculpture are very dynamic.

Culture Night 2022 saw a number of people who were directly involved with the project and members of Laois County Council flanking the Cathaoirleach (chairperson), Ms Thomasina Connell, who cut the ribbon to officially launch the sculpture.

 

Uillean piper Joseph Byrne played a traditional tribute to the seven septs of Laois and everyone then retired to a reception at a nearby café for tea and coffee and absolutely amazing sweet and savoury snacks! 

When the commission was being offered before xmas 2019 the long road to it's completion at the end of August 2022 was not envisaged. There were many hurdles to be overcome (not least, the covid pandemic!) but the finished sculpture certainly stands as a testament to the perserverance of Hayes and the team of people behind the making of Protectour. The launch on Culture Night was a chilly autumn early evening, but at least it was dry, and the reception afterwards was charming.

Gatineau - outdoor artworks part 3 of 3

At the end of July, when I was in Canada again, I strolled the downtown area of Gatineau (this area was formerly known as Hull) on Le sentier culturel to see outdoor sculptures, murals and artistic interventions. This is my third post about the cultural trail and my previous posts may be seen here and here.

“Mères au front” and “Flȃneries” were two pieces that worked together in the single space of an otherwise disused and overgrown lot 

Each artwork had a nearby didactic in both French and English, which gave the title of the work, artist's name and link (if applicable) as well as a brief explanation of the work.

Often on the nearby footpath a colourful marker acted as a reminder of the nearby artwork. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of vandalism along the trail. Small perspex/plexiglass holders containing free colour brochures that included a trail map could be found near every artwork.

The colourful abstract mural on this building was certainly eye-catching!

I was especially drawn to the painted corner bricks.

I wasn't particularly impressed by the mural on the side of this container building, but I was again impressed by the lack of vandalism! The container had an end entrance that lead to a mini cinema where a video was playing on a loop. One could sit down and watch the video or simply take a peep.

A short walk to the edge of the canal brought me to another sculpture and works that could be seen across the water.

Although this picture shows another artwork across the canal, I was more interested in the reflections and the architecture...

There were many murals along the trail, but this one, by Dominic Laporte, was my favourite. It was painted as a tribute to the historic textile industry of Hull (downtown Gatineau) and the women textile workers.

As well as being an explosion of colour, what I especially liked was that from a distance the mural appeared to be tightly painted, yet from a closeup point of view the solidity seemed to disintegrate (as with the ethereal loom) and

the painting technique was incredibly loose as colours dripped into each other. Further information on the art trail and the artists involved can be found on Le sentier culturel website.

Gatineau - outdoor artworks part 2 of 3

While I was in Canada in July, the last leg of my trip was in Ottawa. I spent a day walking Le sentier culturel (the culture path) in Gatineau across the river and I saw so much artwork that I figured I had to devote several blog posts to it; this is the second and the first is here.

This mural was designed by José Guénette as a reminder that the area has a history of being ravaged by fires, but also a reminder of the major (past) employer of the area, the EB Eddy Match Co. The children - of any time - act as witnesses to the events of any era. These particular children could easily represent children of employees from a century ago or children now.

Place Aubry is a small pedestrian area in the middle of the downtown core. Walking in from the street I was drawn to the faux fountain where various colourful animals appeared to be drinking.

 M Chadid's Havre de paix provided a colourful comment in three dimensions wondering if even predators can live together in peace with their prey.

I could hardly miss the flock of butterflies soaring in the space between the buildings!

Samuelle Desjardins' Des ailes pour notre région (Wings for our region) took flight overhead!

A short block away there were several more murals. The jazzy covering of a complete building is a celebration of this area’s past as “Little Chicago” (though according to Wikipedia this is due to crime in the area around the time of Prohibition). 

This past is brought to life by Philippe Landry and Marin Mitrasinovic.  

Although this building mural was also lively and colourful (and next door to the other one!) it was NOT part of the cultural trail so I do not know who the artists were.

Kitty corner to this was Mitrasinovic’s solo mural, “Pop 60”, to my eyes interesting but not as rich or lively as the jazzy one she did with Landry.

Gatineau - outdoor artworks part 1 of 3

While in Ottawa at the end of July, my sister-in-law drove me to nearby Gatineau (PQ) to have a look at “Le Sentier Culturel”, i.e. The Cultural Trail. The artworks were mapped around the centre of the town and one simply had to walk around to have a look at the outdoor work. It was a lovely day – a bit overcast and not as hot as other days, so it was perfect for walking about. At most spots on the trail, there was a little display box of brochures that gave information about each stop along the way. Although I had looked at the website the night before, it was handy to have the brochure with me as I walked through the streets.

After parking the car, the first work we came across was number 8 on the list, Bordalo II's One man's trash is another man's treasure. This huge and colourful wall sculpture - if it was on a smaller scale I might have called it a collage! - was made entirely from repurposed garbage.

Across the road from this sculpture was a civic square and several works on the trail were found here. The colourful entrance to the square was NOT part of the trail but is an indication of the vibrant sensibility of Gatineau. Please note that the appearance of a deserted city is due to this being a business area and not only was it Saturday, but it was a long weekend when I visited! 

This playful mural on the side of one of the buildings was also not part of the trail, just another indication of Gatineau's sensibility.

I was delighted to see this work in the flesh - from one of the pictures on the website, I had already picked Mathieu Fecteau's sculpture of boats as my favourite work on the trail. Je t'appelerai bateau-feu bateau-lumière (the title - I shall call you fireboat lightboat) was excerpted from a 2018 poem by Agnès Riverin.

 I love the way the sculpture references paper boats from childhood and I love them appearing as if stained glass. I also loved the way the bright colours of the boats reflected in the glass of surrounding buildings and in the rippling water of the fountain pool.

I am not sure of the materials used - being in the middle of a fountain, I could not get a close-up look!

From a distance I could see what looked like a pair of binoculars, but it was the sculptural element of a sound piece that was unfortunately broken on my visit. The large white bone-like sculpture was an artwork that was not part of the cultural trail. When I got a closer view of it the white did not seem so luminous. In fact, this work from the 1970s was in need of a bit of TLC as the paint was peeling and it looked like a few repair jobs had been haphazardly carried out over its lifetime.

I was curious about this bright little pavilion, but did not see a reference to its maker/designer in the brochure. 

The brochure describes Espace sensible as a series of exhibitions commissioned by Artch, an organisation that is specifically interested in the work of emerging curators and artists. 

While I was there, there was work by several artists but there was no indication of how long this work would be available for viewing or what the next exhibit would be. 

I was most curious about the pavilion itself, rather than the work displayed within it.

In any case, it was great to be able to walk around and enjoy the outdoor works. There is more to come, as I took lots of photos, so this will be my topic for the next few weeks (two more blog posts)

In Trust. In Gratitude. In Hope. Group exhibition at Arthouse, Stradbally

 I did a road trip recently to check out the exhibition In Trust. In Gratitude. In Hope. in Stradbally, Co Laois. The exhibition was organised by Laois Arts Office and curated by Monica Flynn to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Stradbally's Arthouse Gallery. Over sixty artists were asked to respond to Pat Boran's commissioned poem The Window Seat. As my husband, James Hayes, had been commissioned ten years ago to create the sculptural wall piece, Growth, when the gallery was being built, he was invited to take part in the exhibition. Growth, a stainless steel work, can be seen to the left in the picture below; it is in the courtyard entrance to the gallery.

Within the small, but very elegant, gallery James's bronze sculpture, Faith, can be seen with Growth outside the window.

The artists were asked to respond in any way to Pat Boran's poem but there was a size limit on both 2D & 3D works. Artists working in 2D were provided with a square canvas. There is a screening room within the complex (which also includes studio spaces and units to accommodate a live-in artist-in-residency programme) and there were also two video pieces included in the exhibition.

The other artists who were invited to take part had all been involved with Arthouse over the ten years of its existence, most through the residency programme.

The works were as diverse as the individual artists, but the show was cohesive through the ideas of response to the poem and through the size constraints.

The main gallery is quite small but the space is augmented by the running wall immediately outside it, which leads to the screening room. This corridor is very bright and in no way secondary, with full length windows opposite the running wall. The exhibition continues till March 25th 2022.