Léopol Bourjoi holds a BFA and an MFA in visual arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal (1996). He describes himself as self-taught, having drawn inspiration from a variety of autobiographical texts (Foucault, Van Gogh, etc.) at the start of his career. He presently works in a range of capacities: in addition to teaching, writing and managing a craft workshop, he is a dedicated artist in the fields of painting, photography, digital printing and the design of practical objects. He also creates sculptures of various sizes from bronze, resin, wood or plastics, and has experimented with monumental installations. These include his series of “playful, imagination-generating windmills” and an electro-mechanical sculpture entitled Hi-Lo. The latter was presented in the spring of 2014 at the Maison de la culture Mercier during Les dessous de Gaïa à l’aire steampunk (the term “steampunk” questions the value of the current state of technological development), an exhibition inspired by the cabinets of curiosities of the nineteenth century and intended to precipitate an awareness of our planet’s fragility. Bourjoi has received a number of awards, including a special mention for a project he presented at the 1980 International Environmental Sculpture Symposium in Chicoutimi and a silver medal at the 1984 Cercle des artistes peintres du Québec exhibition.
BOURJOI, Léopol (1950)
Leopol Bourjoi, Hi-LO, 2013. Acier, cuivre, aluminium, fonte, laiton, béton moteur électrique, engrenages, éclairages DEL et iPhone. 170 x 221 x 48 cm. Photo avec l’aimable autorisation de l’artiste.
