GLEN LEMESURIER
Click here to see the article on The Rover’s site.

When I came across this guy who makes amazing sculptures from industrial materials, my rural Ontario upbringing quickly resurfaced. I’d never met a man east of Napanee who could weld! Not only did Glen LeMesurier create the exceptionally fine Jurassic fish currently reigning over our tiny front yard, he spent a day pouring concrete and generally insuring installation. Having an original iron work takes the pressure off gardening, gives the shady side of Waverly Street an edge over precocious perennials facing us from across the street by early April.

Glen is something of a media darling in Montreal, though self-promotion isn’t his style. He simply believes art belongs in public spaces, and has a long history of random installations. To call him a Mile End artist isn’t quite right either. He’s a Van Horne phenomenon, as tied to the neighbourhood’s once great industry – the railroads – as any artist could be.

From his blog: “I believe that by using recycled material in unexpected ways the survival of these materials becomes heroic and their transformation from object into Art becomes part of a mythological process. As a self taught artist I have spent twenty years learning the techniques of construction that have allowed me to move from working on small pieces in wood to working now in an industrial studio, and mostly in iron. I have given a lot to my work and have also gotten much from it and I owe a debt to other artists who have gone before me, traveling this road of sparks and steel.”

These excellent sculptures have honest labour in their souls. In a time when last year’s iPod is considered quaint, Glen creates art from materials of proven durability. What better talismans to ward off the hyper spirits of our cyber-saturated environments?

– Marianne Ackerman