Michel Lemieux

A multidisciplinary artist and graduate in production from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1979, Michel Lemieux has continually amazed audiences with the originality and breadth of his creative work. In 1980, he participated in the group exhibition TRACES/TRACKS at the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal. By 1981, he was already working as a graphic designer and photographer, during which time he met choreographer Édouard Lock, a leading figure in Montreal’s New Dance movement. Lemieux soon became a composer and performer with the emerging company La La La Human Steps, alongside Louise Lecavalier. In 1982, Lemieux created the performance pieces LE TYMPAN DE LA CANTATRICE and L’ŒIL RECHARGEABLE presented at Véhicule Art Gallery and toured across Canada and France.

In 1984, his groundbreaking solo multidisciplinary show SOLIDE SALADE left a lasting impact on the national and international performing arts scenes, touring four continents over several years. Since then, Lemieux—at once a designer, director, scenographer, composer, and performer—has remained at the forefront of blending performing arts with digital arts.

In 1990, he co-founded Lemieux Pilon 4D ART with Victor Pilon, launching a body of work where meaning and emotion are heightened by innovative technologies. Notable productions include GRAND HOTEL DES ÉTRANGERS (Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal), ORFÉO (Usine C), and ANIMA (Fonderie Darling), all of which toured extensively on the international stage.

In 2014, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 4D ART, the digital installation Territoires Oniriques was presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Lemieux also co-directed the theatre productions La Tempête, La Belle et la Bête, and Icare at Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (TNM), as well as Norman at the Cinquième Salle of Place des Arts. These and many other works exploring the intersection of live performance and digital art were also widely toured.

Lemieux co-created and directed large-scale arena shows for Cirque du Soleil, including Delirium and Toruk, which toured internationally for four years. He also co-directed Continuum, an immersive narrative dome film for the new Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium of Montreal.

Since 2016, Lemieux has co-created and directed Cité Mémoire Montréal, the world’s largest urban projection trail, spread across the city. He has since expanded the project with Cité Mémoire Pointe-aux-Trembles and Cité Mémoire Charlevoix.

He also conceived and directed the IN SITU AR Trail, a digital cultural tour showcasing 17 cultural institutions in Montreal, as well as the IN SITU Wall, an interactive projection mapped onto the exterior walls of the Maison Symphonique and the Théâtre Hector-Charland in L’Assomption. These works are still on view today.

Among his many solo projects within 4D ART, Lemieux created The Dissolution of Lady Macbeth, a digital work commissioned by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts for the Thierry Mugler: Couturissime exhibition, which drew over 1.2 million visitors in Montreal, Rotterdam, Paris, and Brooklyn.

Since 2020, Michel Lemieux has developed several narrative virtual reality pieces, including Intouché, Invisible, and Icarus, all presented at major international film festivals, including the Cannes VR Festival. These immersive VR experiences were brought together in the ESPACE 4D ART, a virtual space where digital art is a continuation of the living arts. This initiative was part of the Pionniers Numériques exhibition organized by the PHI Centre for the 60th anniversary of Place des Arts in the fall of 2023.

Michel Lemieux continues to expand his creative universe with many new works in progress.