The artists of the orange line

Communiqué

The Borough of Saint‐Laurent is partnering with the Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec to present Artists of the Orange Line, the inaugural art show in the Exhibition Centre at the new Bibliothèque du Boisé, which opens its doorsto the public on Saturday,July 6, 2013.

July 6 to September 29, 2013
 
Come have anotherlook atthe Montréalmetro’s public artwork and appreciate the talent ofthose who shaped
Montréal’s artslandscape.
 
 
The Borough of Saint‐Laurent is partnering with the Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec to present Artists of the Orange Line, the inaugural art show in the Exhibition Centre at the new Bibliothèque du Boisé, which opens its doorsto the public on Saturday,July 6, 2013. 
 
“We are honoured to presentthisshow marking the opening ofthe Exhibition Centre at the Bibliothèque du Boisé,” said the mayor of Saint‐Laurent, Alan DeSousa. “The show aims to highlight the work of artists who were invited to embellish the stations along Montréal’s Orange line, which has been serving Saint‐Laurent since the mid‐1980s. We invite the residents of Saint‐Laurent, as well as all citizens of Greater Montréal, to come see, through this exhibition, how important public art is and how much of an impact it has on our daily lives.”
 
“In the 1960s, Montréal’s municipal administration decided, as soon as construction of the city’s new metro system was underway, to include artwork in the stations in order to enliven the underground spaces and highlight the talent and diversity of Quebec artists,” added the show’s curator, Céline Le Merlus. “For thisshow, we chose 35 works that represent the three main phases of construction of Montreal’s metro system.
 
Created by 33 renowned artists, the artworksin all their variety trace the development of visual artsinQuebec fromthemid‐20th century to today.”
 
Artists of the Orange line
The metro system’s main line in terms of number of users and stations, the Orange line comprises 31 stations, two thirds of which feature artwork by professional Quebec artists.Testifying to the main tendencies that guided the evolution of public art in Montréal’s metro, the exhibition highlights the variety of artworks—and the mediums used to create them—in the variousstations oftheOrange line.
 
Working outside of their studios, the artists had to adapt their techniques in light of constraints imposed by the act of creating artworks integrated into an architectural structure. Because the artworks are literally part of the metro stations, the exhibition presents photographs of the works rather than the works themselves. To better illustrate the processes involved in creating each of these artworks, the exhibition also looks at other work produced by the artists, using artefacts from public and private collections, notably the collection ofthe Musée desmaîtres et artisans duQuébec.
A catalogue of the exhibition has also been published by the Musée des maîtres et artisans du Québec.