“When you’re there, you don’t really know, and when you take the drone, you get it. That’s what’s so funny! The Frenchman Guillaume Legros, known internationally for the works he signs under his pseudonym Saype, is enthusiastic about the idea of seeing the reaction of Montrealers when they discover that the white and black flow which seems to be pouring on the lawn of the northeast side of Mount Royal, at the corner of the avenues of the same name and du Parc, actually represents one of the ephemeral works of his series Beyond Walls.
Since 2019, Guillaume Legros, accompanied by his logistics team, has indeed traveled the world, from Benin to Brazil, via Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey in order to paint on grass or sand with his hands. intertwined anonymous characters that form a sort of human chain — much stronger than any wall. Invited to Montreal by the Mural Festival as part of its eleventh edition, the Live Nation artist is delighted to be able, thanks to this stage of Beyond Walls, moreover the first in North America, to take an interest in the reputation of the metropolis. “I’m not a big expert on the country, but you can feel it when you arrive: Montreal is a city where there is absolute diversity. It is a delusion ! I find it super cool to pass by here”, he says, the smile from ear to ear. According to him, the stories to be told about Montreal are legion and his speech always comes back to the plurality of the city. “Montréal is recognized everywhere for its diversity. When we found out we were coming here, we were told: ‘You’re going to like it, everyone lives together’”, he recalls.
Whether Beyond Walls asks him each time “a shitload of documentation time, almost journalistic”, Guillaume Legros feeds on it in order to get a better idea of the ” big picture ” on the spot. But not only. “I think this project is absolutely essential. People don’t realize how much I believe in this thing,” he said. And to continue, unequivocally: “We are at a hyper-critical moment for humanity. We are eight billion people on Earth, we are in the process of destroying the planet and its resources. According to the artist, our societies have only two options left for the future. “Are we going to shoot each other or are we going to be smart?” It’s kind of the whole concept of Beyond Walls “, he underlines.
With care
“I find it weird to always dissociate ourselves from nature, it’s hyper ethnocentric. We are just one, ”points out Guillaume Legros when asked about his vision of the world. For this nature lover who grew up in the countryside of Belfort, a town located in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, near the Swiss and German borders, his status as an artist with an international aura gives him a certain duty. For this reason, he has developed over time an eco-responsible paint made from charcoal extracted from vines, “which is completely biodegradable and will paradoxically tend to fertilize the earth”; chalk, “a mineral that will sediment”; and casein, “a milk protein that acts like a natural glue so that if it rains, it doesn’t immediately disappear”. In fact, Saype’s works are visible between a week and three months before nature regains its rights over man.
“The fact that it’s ephemeral really ‘events’ the thing,” says Guillaume Legros. THE Beyond Walls Montrealers will therefore live according to the regrowth of grass and the weather. And when the Mount Royal fresco no longer exists, “nothing will remain, except in people’s minds. It will have marked the place”. Since the adventure in North America is just the beginning, Saype’s hands will then travel to Cuba and Miami, then New York and Alabama before heading for the west coast, towards Los Angeles and San Francisco.