New public artwork by Pascal Grandmaison unveiled
The university has unveiled the latest addition to its public art collection, a large-scale work by the internationally renowned artist Pascal Grandmaison, a finalist for this year’s Sobey Art Award. Lumière intérieure (Inner Light) is mounted in the lobby of the Guy-Metro Building (1550 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.), in the heart of Quartier Concordia.
“Pascal Grandmaison’s work is innovative and engaging,” says Concordia President Alan Shepard. “It’s exciting to be able to continually contribute to Montreal’s vibrant downtown core by showcasing public art of this calibre.”
Lumière intérieure plays on the intense neural activity as information is transmitted through the brain. Mounted within a state-of-the-art illuminated box, the piece consists of a collage of hundreds of different images of light-flashes contained within a defined space — illustrating the idea of the transmission of knowledge in its most fundamental form.
“I was looking for a way to represent the energy Concordia has as an urban university,” says Grandmaison. “Lumière intérieure depicts the creative and intellectual activity taking place here.”
Grandmaison’s piece comes to Concordia following a national competition and as part of the university’s ongoing commitment to positioning art within the public realm. This work was realized thanks to the generosity of donors who prefer to remain anonymous.
This new photographic work by Grandmaison adds a fresh dimension to Concordia’s public art collection. The collection’s other major pieces, which lie within a 100-metre vicinity on the university’s downtown Sir George Williams Campus, include works by Nicolas Baier, Pierre Blanchette, Yehouda Chaki, Geneviève Cadieux, Holly King and Jesús Carles de Vilallonga.
These public artworks and their incredible significance to a university district such as Quartier Concordia are the subject of the latest exhibition on the Guy Street vitrines that look out from the Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Building) at the corner of Ste-Catherine Street.
Related links:
• Concordia’s public art collection
• The latest vitrines exhibition
• About Quartier Concordia
• Artist biography – Pascal Grandmaison
• Montreal artist Pascal Grandmaison wins art commission for GM lobby
• "PhD candidate shortlisted for illustrious prize" — NOW, June 17, 2013 (Pascal Grandmaison is also shortlisted for the Sobey prize)