Michel de Broin (born 1970 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec) is a Canadian sculptor. De Broin has created numerous public artworks in Canada and Europe, including the Salvador Allende monument in Montreal. He was the recipient of the 2007

Sobey Art Award The Sobey Art Award is Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists. It is named after Canadian businessperson and art collector Frank H. Sobey, who established The Sobey Art Foundation. It is an annual prize given to an artist 40 and under wh ...

Life

Michel de Broin was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970. He studied studio arts at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

, receiving a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

in 1995, and at UQÀM where he received a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree in 1997. After starting his career in Montreal, from 2005 he lived in Paris, London and Berlin before returning to Montreal in 2011.

Interdisciplinary practice

Since the 1990s, Michel de Broin has developed an interdisciplinary practice that questions the limits of social and technical systems. He often incorporates humour and playfulness in his work, but also critique. Energy and resistance are recurrent themes in his practice. De Broin also uses video, performance, drawing, photography and found objects in his work. Many of the objects he has created consist of a

détournement A détournement (), meaning "rerouting, hijacking" in French, is a technique developed in the 1950s by the Letterist International, and later adapted by the Situationist International (SI),''Report on the Construction of Situations'' (1957) that ...

of familiar objects and forms that turn back against themselves to show their internal paradoxes.

Conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

is a source of inspiration for his practice. For example, in his show "Dangerous Substance" (''Matière dangereuse'', 1999), he reinterpreted

Kasimir Malevitch Kazimir Severinovich Malevich ; german: Kasimir Malewitsch; pl, Kazimierz Malewicz; russian: Казими́р Севери́нович Мале́вич ; uk, Казимир Северинович Малевич, translit=Kazymyr Severynovych ...

's famous "black square on white ground".

Main works

''Shared Propulsion Car'' consists of a wrecked Buick 1986 car whose engine was replaced by bicycle pedals. It was presented in New York at Exit Art and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

at Mercer Union. A Toronto policeman issued a ticket for "Operating an Unsafe Vehicle" to Dean Baldwin, the driver of the pedal car, but the charge was later dismissed in court. ''Black Whole Conference'' consists of a group of chairs attached to each other at the legs to create a sphere. It is part of the collection of the

Musée d'art contemporain du Val-de-Marne The Musée d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, nicknamed MAC/VAL, is a museum of contemporary art located in the Place de la Libération in Vitry-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne, a suburb of Paris, France. It is open daily except Mondays; an admission fee ...

. ''Overflow'', a piece in the ruined remains of an old Toronto prison chapel, consisted of a waterfall bursting out of a window. ''La maîtresse de la Tour Eiffel'' was created for the Nuit Blanche in Paris (2009). It consists of a 26 feet mirror ball made of 1000 mirrors and suspended from a crane 150 feet above the Luxembourg Garden. The mirror ball broke a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. ''Majestic'' was presented as a satellite project of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Biennal in 2011. Lamposts blown down by

hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

were assembled in the shape of a star. The sculpture was acquired by the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

thanks to a donation by the philanthropists Donald and Beth Sobey.

Public art

De Broin's sculpture entitled ''Bloom'', which was inaugurated in August 2015, is "one of the most visible landmarks on

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

's St. Patrick's Island. The sculpture, which was commissioned by the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation, is "23 metres-high, with working lights on many of its branches that illuminate its surroundings at night." ''Révolutions'' is a sculpture representing a staircase twisted into a knot. It was installed in 2003 during the renovation of Papineau metro station in Montreal. ''Monument'' is a sculpture installed in a parc of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

in 2009. It reinterprets the classical theme of

drapery Drapery is a general word referring to cloths or textiles (Old French , from Late Latin ). It may refer to cloth used for decorative purposes – such as around windows – or to the trade of retailing cloth, originally mostly for clothin ...

by presenting two ghostly characters standing under a sheet. ''L'Arc'' (2009) is a monument commemorating

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

. It is situated on the île Notre-Dame in Montreal.

Awards

In 2006, he received the ''Prix Reconnaissance UQAM''."Prix Reconnaissance UQAM 2006. Le talent de faire parler les objets", UQÀM, May 11, 2006

. Retrieved May 24, 2013. In 2007, he received the

Selected exhibitions

2013 * Solo show at the

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it is ...

2012 * ''Oh Canada'',

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ar ...

, North Adams, MA, USA 2011 * ''Car Fetish. I drive therefore I am'',

Museum Tinguely The Museum Tinguely is an art museum in Basel, Switzerland that contains a permanent exhibition of the works of Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely. Located in the Solitudepark by the Rhine, the museum was designed by the Ticinese architect ...

, Basel, Suisse * ''Parking de sculptures'', Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers, France 2009 * ''La Maîtresse de la Tour Eiffel'', Nuit Blanche, Paris, France * ''Disruption from Within'', Plug In, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 2008 *''Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed'',

, Montreal, Quebec, Canada * ''Énergie Reciproque'', Museum of Contemporary Art of Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine, France * ''Nuit Blanche'', Toronto, Ontario, Canada *''Acclimatation'', Centre d'art Villa Arson, Nice, France 2007 * ''De-con-struction'',

, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada * ''Machinations'', UQAM Gallery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 2006 * ''Michel de Broin; Machinations''

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec ( en, National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is situated in Battlefield Park and is a complex consisting of four bui ...

, Québec, Canada *''Reverse Entropy'', Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany *''Réparations'',

, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 2003 *''Damage Control'', Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2002 * ''Épater la Galerie'', Villa Merkel, Esslingen am Neckar, Germany

References

External links

Official websiteVideos on VimeoSolo show at Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broin, Michel de 1970 births Living people 21st-century Canadian sculptors Canadian male sculptors 21st-century Canadian male artists Artists from Montreal Concordia University alumni Sculptors from Quebec Université du Québec à Montréal alumni