Montréal, Canada, 2017-04-05 –

The new Beloeil Cultural Center is a universally accessible, ecological building that meets environmental and energy efficiency criteria, as well as having a partly green roof and a rainwater recuperation system. The building houses administration offices, sports facilities, multipurpose spaces to accommodate 12 community organizations, a public place for Beloeil city council meetings and a centre for emergency procedures.

 

The work Formations was completed in November 2016 and produced in the context of the politique d’intégration des arts à l’architecture et à l’environnement du Québec, 1% program.

 

Three hanging light sculptures majestically welcome visitors in the entrance hall. The artwork makes a link between the mineralogical heritage of nearby Mont Saint-Hilaire and the education and enrichment the public receives from the community centre’s sports and cultural activities: growth, development and blossoming. The staircase’s various platforms give differing viewpoints of the work, and on the wall and ceiling, the work creates a play of reflections and shadows.

The diamond shape and its variations inspired the work’s structure and recall a pattern frequently used in quilt making, an activity of the ”Cercle des fermières” (women’s quilting group). The shapes also evoke the world of science and resemble certain mineral configurations.

During the work’s production, the artist invited the Cercle des Fermières de Beloeil to participate in assembling the zip-ties. For the Beloeil community, this created a relationship with the artist and a feeling of being part of making the art piece. We can find 400 different types of mineral at Mont Saint-Hilaire, which 60 are ”espèces types” (discovered for the frist time)*. 

* Gilles Haineault : Minéraux du mont Saint-Hilaire, 2014

Data Sheet

Project Title: Formations

Project Completed: November 2016

Artist: Elisabeth Picard

Materials: Dyed zip-ties, steel, LED projectors
Dimensions: 42 x 60 x 30 inches, 50 x 40 x 40 inches and 47 x 47 x 20 inches
Projectors: Elisabeth Picard and Ghislain Brodeur

Site: 240 Hertel street, Beloeil, (Quebec), J3G 3N1
Client: Ville de Beloeil 
Metal Work: Michel Bernier and Geoffrey D’Husler

Production: Elisabeth Picard, Ghislain Brodeur, Josée Picard, Andréanne Godin, Fal Petit and the Cercle des Fermières de Beloeil: Danielle Landry, Marie-Josée Boisvert, Monique Gilbert, Huguette Tessier and Lise Landry
Technical Drawings: Ghislain Brodeur

Installation: Elisabeth Picard, Ghislain Brodeur, Matthieu Gauvin, Nicolas Fleming, Alexandre Pepin
Architect: Martin Brière, BGLA

Photographer: Michel Dubreuil

About Elisabeth Picard

Elisabeth Picard is a Montreal artist. She has received bursaries and grants from SSHRS, FQRSC, Concordia University, CALQ and SODEC to pursue her sculpture research.

Since 2006, her work has been exhibited in Quebec, Ontario, Cuba, France and Lithuania and was included in various publications in Québec, US, Italy and Malaysia.

Her artworks have been presented most notably at the Red Music Academy at Phi Center, at Division Gallery in Montreal, at MATERIA in Quebec City, at the Biennale Internationale du Lin in Portneuf (2013), at the Biennale nationale de sculpture de Trois-Rivières (2016), QC and at Lonsdale Gallery, which represent her work in Toronto. Her work is in the public collections of the Ville de Montréal and Ville de Laval and private collections in Québec, France and Portugal.