Le Grand Rassemblement de la Gaspésie (Art no.16) by sandra46

Photography • Atmosphere/Mood • posted on Aug 12, 2010

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Description

Le Grand Rassemblement or The Great Gathering is a work of nature-art unique in the world that changes continuously. Created by Marcel Gagnon, a self-taught artist living at Saint Flavie, Gaspésie, Quebec, it was used to develop his own style. It is when he started to paint his characters that he decided to shape them in to sculptures. Inspired by the sea and the tides, he integrates his work of art in the St-Lawrence river. In 1986, the artist created 80 life-size sculptures, in reinforced concrete that weigh 685 kg each. In 2003, he increased the amount of statues to more than one hundred. These characters that come out of the sea, seem to join the main character on the edge of the river. This character, a madonna-like woman, is on a half-sphere shaped like the earth and it is situated at the end of the parking space of the Art Centre (Centre d'Art). The sea characters seem to be alive because of the tides and mother nature, the sunrise, the sunset, the fog, the moonlight, the wind, etc. At low tide one can walk up the river shore and see the statues well. At high tide many statues are completely covered with water. In 1992, Marcel Gagnon added rafts with some characters on board. These were created from wood and when the tide was high, these small crafts gave the illusion of navigating on the sea. I couldn’t see these raft in 2009, when I visited the place, so I believe that the two wooden characters you can see here are the remnants of the raft crews. In 1996, the author put the story in words through a new character that we see only when the tide is low. It is the Petit Prince de Sainte-Flavie created with cement and inlaid with stones; you can see the small guy in front of a wooden character near the centre. Thank you for your kind comments.

Comments (47)

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ragouc

11:48AM | Fri, 13 August 2010

Well done.

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mgtcs

3:04PM | Fri, 13 August 2010

WOW....the atmosphere is just fascinating Sandra, a very superior job, congratulations! Sorry I'm delay with my comments, many things in real life!

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Chipka

5:16PM | Fri, 13 August 2010

This is amazing! It makes me think of the monolithic statues of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) staring enigmatically out to sea. Like these statues, those monolithic stone sculptures are also subject to the effects of their environment and now, only their heads (minus the hats they once wore) are all that remain. As for this particular shot (and its post work) I really love the alien vibe, the sense that this is another world. The color tones are superb and well...in a nutshell, this is making a trip into my favorites! This is stunning work.

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