Marc Gauthier

[Pêche interdite/No Fishing [Fishing prohibited/No Fishing], Thierry Arcand-Bossé, 2008, Quebec City]

Efforts to improve nearby ramps of highway Dufferin-Montmorency continue in the Saint-Roch district of Quebec City. The destruction of two ramps freed some space where a new park will be built: Xi’an park.

Since June, manhole covers decorated by Quebec artists have been put in place. These works of art are integrated into the street furniture of the city.

[Future Xi'an Park, 2008, Quebec City]

Non-profit organization Folie/Culture is behind this initiative. In a previous post, I related my visit to the workshop of artist Paryse Martin, who had shown me the design for her cover. The result is as pleasing as the drawing suggested.

[Sketch, Quand la nature fait naître des fictions [When nature creates fictions], Paryse Martin, 2008, Quebec City]

[Quand la nature fait naître des fictions [When nature creates fictions], Paryse Martin, 2008, Quebec City]

Did you know? Folie/Culture “seeks to inform, to raise awareness, and to promote in the area of mental health. It organises events that follow unusual directions in research while at the same time motivating reflection on questions relating to painful social issues.”

[Dérapage [Slippage], Cooke-Sasseville, 2008, Quebec City]

The idea of integrating a banana peel on laughs and to call it Dérapage [Slippage] makes one smile. It should be noted that Cooke-Sasseville appears to have a busy summer! The duo also participates in the Triennal at the Montreal Museum of contemporary art and in Quebec Gold, which takes place in the city of Reims (France).

You can download a map of the circuit by visiting the website of Folie/Culture. I also prepared a circuit on Google Maps.

[Circuit, Google Maps]

[Prière d'écraser [Please crush], François Chevalier, 2008, Quebec City]

Did you know? Xi’an park owes its name to the nearby street. It marks the site of the former Chinatown of Quebec City, ravaged when the highway was built. The city of Quebec also has a cooperation agreement with the Chinese city of Xi’an since 1999.

[Cité suspendue [Suspended City], Laurent Gagnon, 2008, Quebec City]

It would have been interesting to name the artists on their plates. At the very least, a panel indicating the intention behind the idea to passerbies would have communicated the intentions of the exhibit to a wider audience. Furthermore, the absence of a title takes away basic information that adds to the pleasure when watching the works.

Finally, the rust that has emerged quickly surprises me: are these works permanent or will they be withdrawn at the end of the year? An article [in French] suggests that they’ll stay in place until the end of their useful life. Folie/Culture says that the exhibit closes on December 31, 2008. In all cases, it would seem like their useful life is relatively short…

[Vertigo, Jacques Samson, 2008, Quebec City]

It is difficult to talk about this exhibition without a mention of the censorship which hit artist Martin Bureau. Indeed, his drawing of Queen Elizabeth II mixed with a reindeer head was censured by the foundry Bibby Ste-Croix (a subsidiary of McWane located in Alabama) and the city of Quebec. If the artist wanted “to make people talk”, it seems that critic is liken to “Debbie-Downers” in the Old-Capital. The censorship thus took place without raising an eyebrow.

The exhibition Manhole Madness is presented on Saint-Vallier street, under the ramps of Highway Dufferin-Montmorency, until December 31st, 2008. The initiative is an official event of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City.

Further reading:
* My post on the drawing from Paryse Martin
* My post on manhole cover art
* My circuit on Google Maps
* The site of the organization Folie/Culture
* Official map to identify the works
* Carte officielle pour repérer les oeuvres
* Des Photographs taken during the inauguration on June 2008
* Article in French from weekly Voir with a picture of the artists
* Canoe, in French, on Martin Bureau’s censorship