- Reflections of a Sea-Goddess – Amphitrite
It seems art is popping up everywhere! Not only in fully urban areas but also in urban nature environments. I’m often confronted with new artistic additions as I slither around looking to shoot the perfect Nature or Wildlife subject. Artists in cooperation with communities are leaving their mark in the city, parks, gardens and urban Nature environments. Not all of it is good. Some of it necessitates some clarification before it can be appreciated. Other pieces are acquired taste and only to be awed by the few!
I was first exposed to injections of art in the search for nature and wildlife subjects at the Montreal Botanical Garden. From pieces strategically set around the grounds to expositions in many of the different pavilions. I suddenly realized that I was exposed to art in an original way, offbeat from the traditional galleries.
This brought on my inspiration to bring to you, in my blogs, different artistic sightings I encounter as I travel around. It’s not entirely new. I did so with a paper base themes from the Japanese Pavilion of the Montreal Botanical Garden. The “PAPER BEYOND WORDS” exposition was in line with this concept and the theme replicated at the Tree House with yet an other original paper themed art exposition.
I decided to wonder out of my environment, downtown city core, the World Trade Center Montreal (in French, Centre de Commerce mondial de Montréal), to bring to you my first discovery. A lobby ornamented with a giant black granite reflecting pool overlooked by a sculpted fountain statue of Amphitrite by French architect and sculptor, Dieudonné-Barthélemy Guibal. Amphitrite was a Sea-Goddess and wife to Posiedon, the Greek God of the Sea.
The lobby is part of a large glassed-in atrium incorporating a facade of the Nordheimer Building. The Atrium incorporates a part of what was once the Fortification Lane, a wall of Montreal’s Fort. The atrium also houses a section of the Berlin Wall for all to see.