Latitude Nord: 30th Anniversary Installation
Echoes of Art and Design
Completion date
2025
Project manager
Marc Bherer
Photos
André Doyon
On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, Latitude Nord—longtime partner of Desjardins Bherer—presented an exclusive installation celebrating Minotti, the first high-end Italian brand to join its circle of distinction.
For Marc Bherer, the moment was the perfect opportunity to bring together two worlds: design and art. Minotti creations were elevated alongside works drawn from Galerie Blouin Division, a leading reference in Québec contemporary art and a trusted collaborator of the firm. He orchestrated an unprecedented encounter between the refinement and excellence of the great Italian house and the creative vitality of Québec and Canadian artists.
The idea crossed the Atlantic. The Minotti family itself—guardian of the brand’s aesthetic integrity—approved every element of the installations. A rare gesture that speaks to the close relationship built over the years. Pairing artworks with such iconic pieces requires more than aesthetic sensibility: it demands an understanding of the furniture’s DNA and a respect for its lines.
This installation reflects the approach of Desjardins Bherer: it is in the meeting of architecture, furniture, and art that a space finds its fullest expression.
The Art of Staging
Eight vignettes. Eight atmospheres. And in each, carefully selected works engage in dialogue with Minotti creations, transforming the Latitude Nord space into a gallery where design and contemporary art converse.
Nicolas Baier: Between Starlit Night and Earthly Light
A cosmic disc dotted with silver constellations asserts itself opposite the cream bouclé sofa. Its perfect circular form contrasts with the horizontal lines of the furniture, while its matte, textured surface responds to the enveloping softness of the fabric. A cognac leather lounge chair, placed slightly apart, introduces a warm palette echoed by the amber accents of decorative bowls on the coffee table. These caramel and bronze tones warm a composition dominated by deep black and immaculate white.
On the opposite side, a luminous box reveals a forest in transformation above a black lacquered Minotti sideboard. The piece acts like a mirror, amplifying the photographic depth of the work. Brilliant greens, dissolved in white light, contrast with the precise lines of the furniture. A mustard armchair creates a chromatic bridge between the two artworks: its yellow-green tone echoes the organic hues of the forest, while its warmth resonates with the cognac and amber accents. Thus, between starry cosmos and earthly light, the Minotti furniture orchestrates a balance where each element finds its rightful place.
Positive–Negative Play
Patrick Coutu’s work traces dark veins across a pale background, evoking fissures or bare branches. The marble coffee table reverses this relationship: white veins on polished anthracite. This play of positive and negative reveals a subtle affinity between the wall composition and the polished surface.
Within this neutral palette, the mustard leather armchair stands out as an accent. Its curves and warm hue contrast with the sobriety of the Minotti furniture, bringing sensuality and vitality to the ensemble.
Geneviève Cadieux’s monumental photograph—an oyster with voluptuous forms set against a black background—finds an unexpected echo in the curves of the round coffee table and the houndstooth pouf, the only rounded forms in a space otherwise dominated by the pure lines of the white Minotti sofa. Black and white are articulated with precision: the oyster’s nacre responds to the white of the sofa, while black cushions punctuate the composition.
Between Rigor and Improvisation
Placed above a black lacquered Minotti sideboard, another composition by Patrick Coutu finds an unexpected accomplice in the furniture’s glossy surface: reflections create a visual doubling. Above, a suspension fixture—a bouquet of colored glass globes in amber, green, pink, and white—extends this play of rounded forms while introducing a note of whimsy into an environment dominated by neutral tones and horizontal lines.
Opposite, fifteen frames by Pascal Grandmaison align with the lines of the white Minotti sofa. Within this rigorous grid, the forms float freely. The sofa’s matte fabric contrasts with the glossy black coffee table, whose surface reflects the frames and amplifies the geometric effect. A chartreuse cushion with a checkered pattern echoes the structure of the composition while recalling the armchair visible in the background.
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12Golden Shimmers
This work by Geneviève Cadieux captures the undulating surface of a river, where applied gold leaf transforms each reflection into a luminous abstraction. Installed above the white Minotti sofa, the piece finds its anchor in the pure horizontal lines of the furniture. The marble coffee table, with its natural veining, extends this dialogue between surfaces—one organic and fluid, the other solid and polished.
The golden highlights reverberate in the mustard armchair and the sofa cushion, infusing subtle warmth into the neutral palette. The generous curves of the armchair add a sensuality that echoes the fluidity of water.
Chromatic Effervescence
François Lacasse’s work unfolds a vibrant palette in which pinks, greens, oranges, and blacks merge into organic forms. The curves of the composition resonate with those of the beige Minotti sofa and the round dark-wood coffee table.
Colored glass pendants extend this chromatic energy. Their transparency responds to the lacquered surface of the artwork, while a decorative sphere with copper reflections reinforces this vocabulary of rounded forms. The Minotti sofa, with its sculptural lines and elegant neutrality, offers the ideal counterpoint to this colorful effervescence.
Relief and Depth
Two works by Marie-Claire Blais inhabit this space dominated by black. On the wall, a monumental geometric composition bursts into coral, vivid red, and pink facets, creating depth through a play of angles. The painting extends visually into the polished marble of the Minotti table.
On an adjacent wall, a second work reprises this palette in volume, offering relief where the first proposes an optical illusion. The veined marble table becomes the central axis of the installation: its white veins contrast with the angular facets of the compositions. Against the black furniture and anthracite gray walls, the coral brilliance asserts itself with striking intensity.
Collaborators : Galerie Blouion Division and Latitude Nord