Jardin géographique
Joëlle Morosoli
Imagined by the artist Joëlle Morosoli and created together with Rolf Morosoli, this impressive sculpture named Jardin géographique stands proudly in the middle of the roundabout at the intersection of Simard Boulevard and Riverside Street, where it fits in perfectly with the bustling energy of its environment.
The imposing installation consists of 19 axes anchored vertically to the centre of the roundabout, to create a “woodland” with a canopy of ten intersecting wirework cut-outs representing geographic maps. It is a symbolic metaphor for the integration of different cultural communities in Saint-Lambert and their invaluable contribution to the city’s history. Apart from this sociological aspect, the work suggests a geographic garden, like so many traffic signs, guiding drivers to their destinations. On a humorous note, as drivers circle the roundabout, it is as if they are taking roads to far-off countries.
Laser-cut, the fine lines of the ribbon-like maps are rendered with precision through the delicacy of the cuts, giving a certain lightness to the installation as a whole. The sculpture is both figurative, with its geographic maps, and organic, with its abstract forms and the dynamic arrangement of its beautiful silver ribbons. Just as the roundabout leads drivers in several different directions, so this artwork – both abstract and timeless – offers a carousel of escapes for the traveller seeking the imaginary.
Acknowledgements
This work was gifted by the Corporation of the 150th Anniversary of Saint-Lambert to forever mark this historic anniversary in our municipality’s history.
The Ville de Saint-Lambert offers its sincerest thanks to the Corporation of the 150th Anniversary of Saint-Lambert for this generous gift, which now majestically graces this key entranceway to our city. It also wishes to underscore the exemplary and noteworthy involvement of all the citizens who helped organize and hold the anniversary activities.
Last but not least, the Ville de Saint-Lambert thanks the many private and public donors who enabled the Corporation to complete its mandate successfully.
The artist
With a doctorate from Université Paris 8 in Aesthetics, Sciences and Technology of the Arts, Joëlle Morosoli has been creating kinetic sculptures for some 40 years. She has had more than 30 solo exhibitions over the course of her career and participated in many major group exhibitions, including one at the Centre Georges-Pompidou in Paris. In terms of public art, she has produced over 30 pieces, with one displayed in the Palais des Congrès de Hull and another in the Centre Mère-Enfant de Québec.
Co-founder of the Espace Art Actuel magazine, she was a member of the editorial team for around ten years. Ms. Morosoli is also a writer and poet, and in 1986, was awarded the Robert-Cliche second prize for her novel Le Sablier de l’angoisse. In 1988, Éditions l’Hexagone published her work of fiction Le Ressac des ombres, while in 1984, Éditions Naaman came out with her collection of poems entitled Traînée rouge dans le soleil de lait. She also penned an important essay published in 2007 by Éditions d’art Le Sabord under the title L’Installation en mouvement – une esthétique de la violence.
Joëlle Morosoli was subsequently coordinator of the plastic arts and art history program at the Cégep de Saint-Laurent from 2007 to 2014 and now teaches the arts there.
