Victor Pilon

Director, set designer, visual designer, and photographer, Victor Pilon belongs to the first generation of artists often referred to as multidisciplinary creators. In the early 1980s, after spending two years in Europe, he earned a bachelor's degree in visual arts with a specialization in photography. As an official photographer, he documented over thirty royal visits to Canada, as well as visits from other heads of state on behalf of the Quebec and Canadian governments. As a visual artist, Victor Pilon has exhibited his work in various galleries across Canada. His creations are part of the Canada Council Art Bank and the Public Archives of Canada collections. A monograph dedicated to his artistic work was published in 1988.

Based in Montreal, he met at the turn of the 1990s the person who would become his greatest collaborator: Michel Lemieux. From Lemieux Pilon 4D Art emerged unique productions where meaning and emotion are elevated through the use of new technologies. The duo boldly masters the integration of theatre, cinema, dance, poetry, visual arts, and music to create original stage universes. This led to the creation of works such as Territoires Oniriques, an installation piece for the company’s 30th anniversary at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Icare, La Belle et la Bête, and Shakespeare’s The Tempest at Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, as well as NORMAN, a tribute performance to Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren. In partnership with the Opéras de Québec and Montréal, the duo created Starmania Opéra. The show TORUK – The First Flight marked Lemieux and Pilon’s fourth collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, following DELIRIUM, Soleil de Minuit—a commemorative show celebrating both the 20th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil and the 25th season of the Montreal International Jazz Festival—as well as an act for the resident show Michael Jackson ONE. They also created Continuum, set to music from the Philip Glass catalog, the first multimedia show at Montreal’s new Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium. They also collaborate regularly on exhibitions and special events. With more than thirty productions to their name, the work of Lemieux and Pilon has been acclaimed in Canada, the United States, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Asia.

Since 2016, Cité Mémoire, the world’s largest urban video trail, created in collaboration with Michel Marc Bouchard, comes to life every evening on the walls of Old Montreal. His most recent creation, Sisyphe, is the culmination of his artistic approach, as he performs himself in a physical contemporary art performance that is both introspective and contemplative. An art film created by the artist from footage of his 2021 Montreal performance is currently being showcased at film festivals.