Calligraphy and true love of the letter in service of the beauty of our detritus, trash and garbage. Garbage Beauty has been transforming abandoned objects and furniture since 2010 across cities around the world: Paris, Miami, New York, Toronto, Quebec City, Montreal, Austin, New Orleans, Detroit, Amsterdam and Brussels. They give voice to these elements, fruits of a consumer society that consumes without limit and leaves behind treasures to calligraph.
In response to the growing popularity of their art, a new entity was born to better serve the demand for interventions outside the original established mission of Garbage Beauty. Les Hommes de Lettres was born at the beginning of 2014 and has been working tirelessly ever since, integrating literature through calligraphy and creating artistic concepts around the purest medium of expression: the letter.
To display the map, please accept functional cookies by clicking on « Consent preferences ».
Artwork description
In 2014, MU took up residence on Savoie Avenue (between St-Denis Street and the Grande Bibliothèque) to paint an ode to literature on the walls, thanks to the talent of several muralist artists chosen by a jury: Jason Botkin, Five Eight, Les Hommes de Lettres, William Patrick and Adam Sajkowski, Gene Pendon, Bruno Rouyère and Dominique Desbiens, and XRAY.
A true encounter between visual arts and literature, these “word walls” highlight the historical significance of the area as a hub of knowledge (Université de Montréal, UQAM, Montreal literary school, etc.), the 100th anniversary of the Saint-Sulpice Library (located on Saint-Denis Street) and the 45th anniversary of UQAM in 2014, as well as the 10th anniversary of the Grande Bibliothèque in 2015.
Dans le cadre de sa collection Les bâtisseurs culturels, MU rend cette fois hommage à Émile Nelligan et aux poètes montréalais (Gaston Miron, Hélène Monette, Josée Yvon, Marie Uguay et Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau) par une murale réalisée par Les Hommes de lettres.
The work highlights the following writings:
- Gaston Miron – L’homme Rapaillé
- Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau – Regards et jeux dans l’espace
- Hélène monette – Le goudron et les plumes
- Josée Yvon – Les Laides otages
- Marie Uguay – L’Outre-vie
- Émile Nelligan – Le Vaisseau d’or
Launched in 2010 by MU, the Les bâtisseurs culturels collection aims to recognize the invaluable contribution of creators from the metropolis across various artistic disciplines, whether they are Montrealers by birth or adoption, to the local, national, and international prominence of the Montreal cultural scene.