Lisette Lemieux was born in Arthabaska and completed a bachelor’s degree in education at the Université de Sherbrooke before beginning her studies in art. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art from Université Laval, a diploma in art history from the Université de Montréal, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in visual arts from UQAM.
Since 1975, her work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Québec and abroad. She has also produced a number of works of public art, including Transcription 92 (1992) at the Centre Pierre-Péladeau and Kristallnacht (Nuit de cristal) (2003) at the Montreal Holocaust Museum. In 2006, her work Liber was presented to UNESCO by the Ville de Montréal on the occasion of the event Montréal, World Book Capital.
Artwork description
A large steel panel is installed beside Lake St. Louis as if it were a billboard or a huge painting. The word “FLEUVE” (river) and the image of the word’s reflection in the water are cut out of this large surface.
Lisette Lemieux often uses glass as a material in her artworks; it is therefore not surprising that here she calls upon transparency effects. It is possible to look through her intervention, an almost opaque screen, at what is named – the actual water of the river. This interest in the properties of water can also be seen in the incisions that evoke the reflection of light on the water’s waves. Representation and reality are juxtaposed. The artwork is a wall that partially obstructs the view of the river yet signals its presence, and perhaps it encourages viewers to rediscover the river’s changing and fragile nature.