by Le Pressoir

If you’ve ever passed through Val-des-Monts, taking route 366 towards Lake McGregor, you’ve surely had the pleasure of catching a glimpse of the work of sculptor Béla Simó and his life and creative partner Angèle Lux. It’s here, in this majestic studio garden, that this artist duo works and exhibits, endowing the Collines-de-l’Outaouais landscape with monumental works that fuel the imagination. Born in Romania, Béla honed his skills in Austria under the wing of renowned sculptor Josef Elter. This was followed by stays in Toronto, the Yukon and Newfoundland, before finally settling in the Outaouais region in 2013. For her part, multidisciplinary artist Angèle, originally from Montreal, came to our region to raise her family and pursue her practice. It was here that their paths crossed, and they began a long and collaborative career spanning the visual arts, photography and the literary arts.

Since then, their prolific careers have led them to exhibit widely, garnering awards and praise here and abroad. Notably, last December, the artists traveled to Lecce, Italy, where both participated in the visual arts biennial L’Ère des dieux, at the Must gallery, in addition to receiving the Medusa International Prize for Visual Art and the Cesira Doria Ferrari Prize for Poetry and Literature.

Béla was recently crowned honorary artist of the Arts visuels de Gatineau spring exhibition and named “Artist of the Year” at the Gala Distinction Val-des-Monts. He will also be the guest artist at Jardin Moore, in Mascouche, for the 8th edition of Sculptures au jardin, to be held from June 21 to October 2, 2024, where last year he won the 1st Prix Desjardins in sculpture. Angèle will also be exhibiting three of her sculptures.

As for Angèle, in addition to the Cesira Doria Ferrari prize, she won 1st prize in the 15+ category of the Low Down to Hull & Back News storytelling contest. You can also discover one of her haikus in Hélène Leclerc’s collection Le plus petit poème au monde, recently published by Éditions David. Finally, you can view her diptych Migration I and II at the Centre d’exposition Napoléon-Bourassa, in Montebello, as part of the group exhibition FemmExpo 2024, on view until June 2^nd.

In this interview with the two artists, we explore their reasons for moving to the Outaouais, the nature of their collaborative practice, their relationship with the Val-des-Monts artistic community, and their wishes for the Outaouais cultural ecosystem.

You two aren’t originally from the Outaouais region, so what influenced your decision to settle here? And Val-des-Monts specifically?

Angèle: In my case, I left New Brunswick, where I’d settled after studying journalism and teaching, because my partner at the time didn’t like it there. I wanted to move to Montreal and live and work in French; he wanted to move to Toronto and live and work in English. We compromised and opted for Gatineau. We later moved to Val-des-Monts to offer our daughters a better quality of life. They’ve left the nest now, but I like it here. It’s a peaceful and inspiring environment in which to create.

Béla: I also end up here because of an ex-spouse. I lived in Whitehorse, Yukon, for 18 years. It was paradise for me. My partner at the time, a pianist originally from Newfoundland, had enrolled in an ethnomusicology program offered in that province. She also wanted to be closer to her family. So, we moved there. After a few years, we realized it was a mistake for both our careers and opted for Ottawa. It was while looking for a place to build a workshop that I discovered Val-des-Monts.

Béla, you were recently named Artist of the Year at the Gala Distinction Val-des-Monts, congratulations! How does recognition from your community add to your sense of belonging to your municipality?

Béla : Being named Artist of the Year is a public validation of the importance of my artistic contribution to the municipality. It means that the community recognizes the value of my artistic work and its impact on cultural life. So it’s certain that feeling supported and encouraged by the community strengthens your attachment to the place where you live and work. But it’s also important that this support takes concrete form. The municipality of Val-des-Monts needs to support its artists and artistic creation on its territory. It needs to create a link with them, thereby strengthening its commitment to cultural development and contributing to a more vibrant and enriching community for all. In my opinion, there’s still a long way to go…

What would you like people to know about Val-des-Monts’ cultural community?

Béla : I’ve been told that Val-des-Monts is the MRC municipality with the largest number of artists on its territory. They cover a wide range of disciplines, including visual arts, music, dance, literature and poetry, theater, photography, and crafts. But they are seldom seen or heard. There is also an exodus of cultural workers. Although a cultural policy has been adopted by the municipality in 2021, are we really managing to support and stimulate creators in their artistic development? Do we really offer them a living environment conducive to creation and a showcase for expression, performance, and exhibition? It’s true that the municipality funds cultural events such as the Festival country de Val-des-Monts and the annual Arts-aux-Parcs exhibition, but I don’t think these events really highlight the work of local artists. Showcasing a handful of local artists once a year during the Journées de la Culture is too little. We need more vision. Because an artist’s motivation is often a function of the support and appreciation they receive. Without motivation, there is no passion, and without passion, there is no art…

You’ve been working together for a long time, but you both have well-established solo practices. What dictates what becomes a collaborative piece?

Angèle : Convergence of ideas and artistic visions, as well as mutual inspiration, are probably the main factors. There have also been times when our collaboration has been fueled by the inspiration we draw from each other’s artistic practices. For example, Béla was inspired by one of my digital creations and this led to a collaboration where we integrated my concept into a sculpture. The complementary nature of our skills is also an important factor. We enrich each other’s skills and create works that neither of us could have done on our own. Finally, our artistic collaboration is based on mutual trust and open communication. We can share our ideas, give and receive constructive criticism, and work in tandem to realize our vision.

How would you describe your collaborative process?

Angèle : In our case, we complement each other perfectly. First, let’s mention that managing social networks, writing calls for briefs, public relations and communications work, billing, accounting, and inventory management all fall to me. That’s my strength. Béla’s strength lies in logistics, work ergonomics, materials management and purchasing, planning, as well as his technical knowledge and manufacturing experience. In fact, he has manufactured several of the tools and equipment we use in the workshop. We work together on ideation. The welding work is done entirely by Béla, but I’m involved at every stage of the process through my observations. I also work physically on the work (tracing, cutting, grinding, painting, etc.). Finally, I bring a more feminine, fluid element to his work, while he brings me his mastery of metal, fabrication, and sculpture. Everything is done by us in the workshop: no subcontractors or use of a machine shop.

We’ve inaugurated a new public work in Buckingham, can you tell us about it? Was it created specifically for this location?

Angèle : Flots, a brushed aluminum sculpture, is a stylized and poetic representation of both a tree and a water jet. The public artwork commemorates the Lièvre River, which forged Buckingham, and reminds us of the importance of the forest in its development.

Béla : A series of smaller sculptures based on the same concept appear in our sculpture garden, an experiment in how to harmoniously attach metal strips to a trunk. Time after time, the pattern became more complex, and the sculpture grew in height and width. An animated prototype was then produced for the Buckingham commemorative work’s call for briefs. Flots was born of this evolution but is still a sculpture customized specifically for R. W. Scullion Park. It measures almost 5 metres in height. With its modular, programmable LED lighting, we wanted it to reveal the magic that can arise when art invites itself into a park.

You have a sculpture garden at home. Do you often receive visitors? Can people visit at any time?

Béla : Our sculpture garden is a landmark. It’s very popular. It welcomes some 1,800 people a year, with no admission charge. In the past, Angèle even always offered free guided tours. Some lasted up to 90 minutes, depending on visitor interest. After all, the garden boasts some 50 monumental sculptures. Now, people can drop in when we’re in the studio, or they can make an appointment for a guided or unguided tour. We like to put a smile on people’s faces and share our passion with them.

We can imagine that it’s difficult to exhibit and store our work when we’re making sculpture, what are the issues when you’re a sculptural artist?

Béla : Sculptures, especially large ones, take up a lot of space. We need to have adequate storage space to keep them safe between exhibitions or sales. This becomes a logistical and financial challenge. If sculptures are left outside, they need to be occasionally cleaned and re-waxed. Transporting monumental sculptures is also complex and costly. The works require special handling and packaging to avoid damage during transport and, in my case, to prevent the aluminum from being scratched. These precautions are even more important if the work is painted. It’s also worth mentioning that handling aluminum sheets and lifting monumental works of art during their creation can sometimes be a challenge, not to mention the fact that a monumental work requires a good-sized workshop.

Angèle : I’d like to add that another issue is the cost of production: creating sculptures like the ones we make is costly in terms of materials, tools, and time. Marketing them is also more complex than other art forms, as they often require physical interaction with the work to fully appreciate its three-dimensional dimension. Photographing the works is also more difficult, as aluminum is a highly reflective material. Finally, large-scale sculptures can pose problems of accessibility, i.e. you must consider the size of the venue. I’m constantly reminding Béla of this last constraint when he designs his work. For example, one of his sculptures could not be exhibited at the Espace Pierre-Debain because of the height of the ceiling and the fact that there must be at least 30 cm between the ceiling and the work.

Angèle, you navigate between the visual arts, text, and photography. How has your creative process evolved over time? What dictates your choice of medium?

When I first started out in the visual arts, I immersed myself in painting and mixed media. I was fascinated by the way colors, shapes and textures can communicate emotions and ideas. Then I started photographing these textures, shapes and colors, as in my series of photos of Shanghai walls. My poetry, meanwhile, was fueled by personal experiences and intimate reflections. At this stage, my three passions seemed to exist in parallel, each with its own way of expression.

Over time, my poems were enriched by the visualization and evocative images I discovered while painting. My photographs became an extension of my poetry, capturing fleeting moments imbued with emotion and symbolism. My artistic worlds intertwined. My writing has sharpened, exploring more complex themes and visual metaphors. I’d now like to create works that integrate visual, poetic and photographic elements, exploring how these different layers of expression can come together to convey deeper emotions and narratives and their intersections.

Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like to promote?

Béla : My financial situation limits the realization of my ideas for monumental sculpture. And since I have a lot of aluminum scrap, I’ve decided to start an art foundry. I already had a bronze foundry in the Yukon, but aluminum casting was new to me. So last winter, I set up my own small artisan foundry. I haven’t really had a chance to experiment, but I’m planning to cast small, more affordable sculptures so that ordinary people can buy one of my works. This will also enable me to add molded forms to my monumental, welded sculptures.

Do you have a wish for arts and culture in the Outaouais?

Béla : I wish we listened more to the vision of artists and asked their opinion on how to make a community more culturally rich. I’d also like to see more opportunities for artists like me to share their experiences with young artists, but also to learn from them. We can grow together and enrich each other.

For my part, I’m convinced that culture is a powerful economic and identity vector. Recognition of the collective impact of artists and cultural workers on our development must be part of a strong municipal and regional vision for the future. I’d therefore like to see greater support for artists by offering them decent working and practice conditions, the support they need to create, innovate, and share their work, and infrastructures to encourage artistic expression in all its forms.

I also hope that arts and culture in the Outaouais will flourish and blossom, and truly become a source of rapprochement within our community, helping to forge intercultural and intergenerational links, strengthening the social fabric, and celebrating creativity, diversity and inclusion.