A large steel panel is installed beside Lake St. Louis as if it were a billboard or a huge painting. The word “FLEUVE” (river) and the image of the word’s reflection in the water are cut out of this large surface.

Lisette Lemieux often uses glass as a material in her artworks; it is therefore not surprising that here she calls upon transparency effects. It is possible to look through her intervention, an almost opaque screen, at what is named – the actual water of the river. This interest in the properties of water can also be seen in the incisions that evoke the reflection of light on the water’s waves. Representation and reality are juxtaposed. The artwork is a wall that partially obstructs the view of the river yet signals its presence, and perhaps it encourages viewers to rediscover the river’s changing and fragile nature.

Regard sur le fleuve was first on display at the first Salon international de la sculpture extérieure, an event organized by the Centre des arts contemporains du Québec à Montréal in 1992 for the 350th anniversary of the foundation of Montréal. With the theme “Aux quatre vents” (To the Four Winds), this exhibition of monumental and environmental sculptures brought together 12 artworks, created specially for the occasion, on the promenade of the Old Port of Montréal. At the end of the event, Widgery’s artwork was installed at its permanent site, on the shore of Lake St. Louis.