Born in Granby, Charles Daudelin took Paul-Émile Borduas’s advice to move to Montréal, where he took courses at the École du meuble from 1939 to 1943. Elected a member of the Contemporary Arts Society in 1941, he lived in New York and then in Paris, where he attended Fernand Léger’s studio. Teaching at the École des beaux arts de Montréal, Daudelin created the “integrated art” section there in 1963. Among his most prestigious accomplishments in integration art are the altarpiece in the Sacred Heart chapel at the Notre-Dame basilica and the sculpture-fountain Embâcle at Place du Québec in Paris.
Artwork description
This “mobile” features five steel masts anchored onto a circular granite base. A long rod sits atop each mast, and the rods spin and bend whenever the wind blows.
The vertical, linear installation is meant to contrast with the surrounding architecture, nearby expressway and crowded space, while the base affords the artwork its own well-defined expanse.