PIERRE POUSSIN, ESPRIT, 2016
Location: Alex Decouteau Park
As a part of Edmonton’s Percent For Art Policy, Esprit was created to honor Alexander Decoteau’s spirit and legacy. Born in Saskatchewan in 1887, Decoteau served in the Edmonton Police Force from 1909-1916 as Canada’s first Indigenous police officer. He was also a celebrated long-distance runner, winning most major Western Canadian races while serving Edmonton. Esprit is a laser-cut metal sculpture, fabricated with multiple ribbon-shaped aluminum pieces, that seeks to celebrate, honor, and symbolize the progressive and groundbreaking spirit of Alex Decoteau.
Biography: Pierre Poussin’s artistic approach joins abstract concepts with practical functionality. Pierre believes art should be tailor-made for the public space it inhabits, and just as importantly, for the community that the art work serves. His work examines a series of inherent contrasts in our environments: natural vs. industrial, history vs. future, dynamic vs. static.
Pierre is an expert in materials, industrial technologies, manufacturing techniques and industrial processes. Artistically, in the past, Pierre has specialized in creating large-scale public art installations and permanent exterior artworks for municipal and corporate clients as well as architects, landscape architects and urban developers. His goal is to develop pieces which embrace function and encourage interaction and curiosity, with past themes including: movement, nature, history, community, identity and technology.
Pierre Poussin is a Toronto-based artist, specializing in large-scale public art installations that draws from the natural world, as well as urban communities and their diverse histories. Most recently, Pierre has created an abstract and commemorative sculpture, Esprit, for the new Alex Decoteau Park and for the City of Edmonton, an intricate feature wall, Exported Floras, for the Florian Tower, located in Yorkville, Toronto. He is also producing Cascades, a series of sculptural seating for the upcoming Bayview Station, for the City of Ottawa, and Brick Obelisk, a backlit Corten-steel piece, that will serve as an archive of Toronto’s Carlaw and Dundas neighbourhood, featuring detailed maps of various stages of the community’s history.
Sponsors: Edmonton Arts Council
Sources: www.pierrepoussin.com
Photo Credit: Pierre Poussin