"I love America and America loves me, part I" by artist Marc Séguin.
Marc Séguin | Photo: Éliane Excoffier
Séguin’s work — selected by a jury from among works by 600 other artists — will be found at the tentatively named Langelier station. Through an installation of painted panels, he hopes to impart a sense of the natural to the underground and urban milieu.
The transdisciplinary project has put Séguin in close contact with the station’s architect as it takes shape. It’s been an effective way for his work to achieve a special kind of permanence, he says.
“Art is often bottlenecked into something that already exists and has been constructed, but this is a real process and discussion about materials, where it’s going to be placed, how it will be lit, and so forth,” Séguin explains.
Séguin has called Montreal home since 1992. His mother, who worked at Concordia as a lab technician, was the one who first encouraged him to apply to the studio arts program in the Faculty of Fine Arts.
“I ended up building a portfolio and applying — and I got into what I believe is the best arts school in Canada,” reflects Séguin.
Professors he fondly recollects, all of whom had “well-established practices,” include Guido Molinari, Betty Goodwin and Françoise Sullivan.
As a faculty mentor for the past two years, Séguin has helped prospective artists embark on their own creative journeys. The student has become the teacher, in other words, a role that Séguin says he greatly enjoys.
“When I had contact with established teachers, it gave me a sense of identity,” he notes. “I got so much from Concordia — there was a sense of community that’s essential. Now, 30 years later, I feel it’s something I have to build on. That’s why I’m giving back today.”