NEW CONDO PROJECT WILL TURN HEADS
Val-David artist René Derouin will add 62-metre-high mural to the MaryRobert
A new condo project under construction in Griffintown won’t be just be another boring tower. It will be a large-scale work of art, with the building itself as the canvas.
Val-David artist René Derouin has been commissioned to transform the facade of the MaryRobert into a 62-metre-high mural imprinted on the glass of the condominiums’ balconies, creating what will be Quebec’s largest public art project in a real-estate development project.
“I am very lucky to do this. It’s a unique project, and a fascinating one,” said Derouin.
I first stumbled upon Derouin’s work last year while strolling down Val-David’s main street, home to his gallery and studio. I walked in and was gobsmacked. The exhibition, Rapaces, which is now on display in Mexico, was a gorgeous mixed-media swirl featuring silhouettes of raptors and other birds of prey, representing the fragmentation and rapacity of our increasingly busy and agitated world.
The design for the MaryRobert mural, while gentler in theme, has a similar busy energy. The mural features flowers representing the founding nations who first put down roots in Montreal, as well as imagery inspired by the riverside location of the tower. Mock-ups show a flurry of birds soaring above boats speeding full sail over the fish swimming below.
“All these complexes going up in Montreal, they’re very cold in the architecture. They’re metal and concrete, without much greenery. This will be organic and will climb up to the birds,” said Derouin.
“It will be nice to look at but also related to the location, to the river.”
Although Derouin has created large murals before, it will be the first time he has created a work of such massive scale.
“When you ask an artist to create a 21-storey mural in a public space, there’s a responsibility for the future, for the years to come. It has to be interesting for the long term, perennially,” said Derouin.
The mural will be imprinted on the glass of the condo units’ balconies, which posed a challenge for the design of the artwork, Derouin said, because homeowners will see both a small section of the artwork up close as well as a part of the whole mural on the other tower.
“If I’m on the 18th level, what do I see? The river, the mountain, and a building also, and a complete mural. But from your condo you will also see a fragment. It’s a duality of two places, two buildings, two dimensions,” he said. “It will appear different depending where you’re looking from.”
The MaryRobert is being built by development juggernaut Devimco, whose various projects represented a third of new condo sales downtown last year. The building is expected to be complete by late 2020 or early 2021.
According to Devimco consultant Marco Fontaine, the company wanted to create a strong emblem of Griffintown that would become an iconic landmark. The mural will be visible to tourists and commuters travelling on the Bonaventure Expressway as well as from Peel St.
Fontaine said Devimco’s $600,000 investment to create the mural not only adds cachet to the project, but also improves the culture and quality of life for the community in and around the tower, he said.
“Art is factoring more and more into our strategy,” Fontaine said. “The storytelling behind the art is very interesting, and it adds value to the project.”
The strategy seems to be paying off: although the MaryRobert is one of the most expensive projects in Griffintown, Fontaine said it’s already 90 per cent sold just six months after launch.
With more than $3-billion worth of projects currently underway, including some of the largest mixed-use developments in the Montreal region, the style and approach taken by Devimco is likely to set a new standard for developers in Montreal.
Let’s hope this kind of investment in art and culture is catching.