Mark Jenkins is a street artist who takes over public space with hyperrealistic sculptures of people in surprising locations. The cityscape provides a theatre for these figures, which the artist develops in a site-specific process. Placed in unusual positions, they interact with the built environment in astonishing and sometimes absurd ways.
A series of characters scattered in the alleys and corners of the Petit-Champlain district engage in playful activities. One swings through the air, between two buildings; another sits on top of a wall fishing for some love. Cast at human scale and in ordinary clothes, these disarmingly realistic trompe-l’oeil sculptures have passersby doing double-takes to make sure they aren’t real people in alarming positions. Through the strong reactions they provoke, Jenkins’ installations invite us to reflect on our norms for acceptable behaviour in public space and on the blurring boundaries between what is fake and what is real.
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Photo : Stéphane Bourgeois
