In the studio of Francis Montillaud | The rebellious teenager who became a renowned sculptor

At 44 years old, Francis Montillaud is an artist in the prime of his life. He won numerous public art competitions and created impressive and human sculptures. In 2024, the Pie-IX metro station will receive its largest order. We went to see him work in his Montreal workshop, but also in Chambly, where he had part of the project carried out.

1. The art that saves

Originally from Lévis, Francis Montillaud got off to a bad start during his adolescence. “I was a little lost, a little aggressive, rebellious and negative,” he says. I didn’t feel good about myself until I discovered visual arts in my 20s. »

Enrolling in visual arts courses, he understood that he had found his calling when he entered the workshops of Laval University. At the same time, from the age of 20 to 24, he worked as a scaffolding installer on performance stages in Europe. An experience that opened his eyes, developed his sense of installation and staging, as well as his taste for photography and video.

He began his career with a video installation, Helio Beachpresented at the Manif d’art de Québec, in 2005. He then produced the video design of the piece Elsewhere by director Kevin McCoy, who is enjoying great success in Quebec. “As Kevin was Robert Lepage’s boyfriend, I was able to work in a studio at the Dalhousie barracks with Robert’s touring equipment. We were able to build the show like a big video installation. »

Fascinated by the expressions of the human face, Francis Montillaud subsequently created a series of sculptures, particularly for public art. Go greeninstalled in 2007 in the basin of the Place des Arts esplanade, opens the doors to competitions launched by public organizations for the integration of works in public space.

2. The workshop

Francis Montillaud has been based for 11 years in a two-story workshop in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. He created many sculptures there among all his projects carried out for Dollard-des-Ormeaux, L’Île-des-Sœurs, Art underground, the Laroche/Joncas gallery, the Janine-Sutto culture house and the Circa gallery.

He participated in the Passages insolites festival in Quebec, exhibited at the Yves Louis-Seize gallery in Lanaudière, created sculptures for several schools in Quebec, for a street in Ottawa and a park in Manitoba. Works which often evoke classical statuary, to which he adds a touch of strangeness.

3. Pie-IX

During the pandemic, Francis Montillaud won the competition launched by the Société de transport de Montréal to add works of art to the two entrances of the Pie-IX metro station, as part of the installation of elevators. The theme was the Montreal Olympic Games. The artist designed two installations. The first represents gold, silver and bronze medals, and will be placed above escalators. The other consists of three crowns which will be attached to the ceiling. They evoke the olive wreaths of the ancient Games and the architecture of the Olympic Stadium designed by Roger Taillibert.

The steel crowns were made in the workshop. The medals, which represent superpositions of pictograms of Olympic disciplines, were carved from MDF wood before being melted into aluminum at the Fondremy ​​foundry in Chambly. We went to this factory to see how the medals were created by casting in sand mixed with a resin, then by casting molten aluminum. The director of Fondremy, Hicham El Idrissi, explained the technique used to us.

Once cast, the medals are cooled, sanded and kiln painted to give a lustrous gold, silver and bronze finish. These works, which constitute the biggest technical challenge of Francis Montillaud’s career, will be inaugurated next year.

4. Mandeville

A disciple of the artist and teacher Stephen Schofield, Francis Montillaud has never lacked work. He even had to recruit an assistant. But he wants to go further in creation and distribution. He plans to exhibit his work and that of other sculptors on the 51-acre land he purchased five years ago in Mandeville, in Lanaudière.

“I will develop the land. I bought a nugget to develop this territory which includes a pine forest, a lake, a stream, another forest and lots of different ecosystems. My goal is to create a sculpture trail. It’s a project a bit like René Derouin’s Precambrian Gardens, in Val-David. »

At the same time, he will continue to create for public art, even if it is a stressful avenue because it is very competitive, and to exhibit in artist centers. “On my land, there is a huge workshop. I will be able to sculpt larger works there than I can in Hochelaga. »

When Francis Montillaud looks back, he sees how art made him take giant steps and channeled his energy at the often destructive time. “I work all the time. It has become a real passion,” he says.

5. In photos