From Waterloo to New York for his friend Johnny (Depp)

EVENT. Movie star Johnny Depp just put on a big show in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York. To showcase the prolific imagination of the actor-artist, his team called on the knowledge and creativity of the non-Waterloise Anne-Séguin Poirier. The result is great.

The famous actor Johnny Depp is currently trying to free himself from the many characters he played over four decades. He now wants to be recognized as a visual artist. The presentation Lots of stuff (which may be translated as Business portfolio or A lot of things), which was opened at the beginning of October in New York, marking his entry into the international contemporary art market. Renowned photographer Anne-Séguin Poirier was responsible for the artistic direction of this immersive exhibition.

Excess

The project manager of the Johnny Depp show is the company Tait Towers, which has more than 2,000 employees and has workshops in 20 cities around the world (including Montreal). The company has created stages for shows by international artists such as U2 or Coldplay, and for Cirque du Soleil in particular. Ms Poirier, who has been a set designer for 25 years, was hired by the Tait Towers team and Johnny Depp because her theatrical aesthetic matched the vision and approach of the man who played, among others, Pirates of the Caribbean ‘Caribbean.

“I wanted to recreate Johnny (Depp’s) artistic approach. The project focuses mainly on telling the story of her life through the show, and not necessarily on selling photos,” explained the photographer, who has been the artistic director of several Cirque du Soleil shows. .Anne-Séguin Poirier was responsible for the artistic direction and design of the sets. to live in Waterloo for two years, where she opened the bar-café Sissi Buvette.

To create a cozy and enveloping atmosphere in the large industrial space where the exhibition is located, Anne-Séguin Poirier installed a large number of velvet curtains. “Afterwards, we realized there were six kilometers of curtains in the show! », she shouts.

The presentation Lots of stuff consists of an immersive round trip that ends with a 14-minute video in a room enclosed in (another) curtain, the Black Boxin the middle of the place. Johnny Depp talks about his inspirations and other dreams. Along the way, we found a wide variety of works by the actor-artist, as well as plenty of personal items he collected over the years. “It’s big a collector of things,” Ms. Poirier said of the man who played Edward Scissorhands. As one New York art critic wrote of the show: “It’s like stepping into Johnny Depp’s brain.”

When asked how big the budget was to make this event happen, the set designer replied: “I can’t reveal that.” Let’s say there were European investors in the project, as well as the actor’s own contribution.

Homecoming

About fifty people worked on the creation of the exhibition Lots of stuff. They were divided into three teams, based in Montreal, London and Barcelona. Anne-Séguin Poirier loved the preview, which took place on September 30. “There were rock musicians – as Johnny was also a singer and guitarist – and various actors and artists. The Pirates of the Caribbean gang came from Hollywood to see this. Also, we worked remotely for a year with the teams in London and Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​​​​so it was really good to be together to experience the result of our work,” says the resident of Water commitment

To be attractive

Johnny Depp currently spends most of his life between three poles: England, France (in Provence) and California. He invested a lot of money in the design of his exhibition. “Johnny is a humanitarian, aware and respectful of the work of creators. It was a pleasure to work with him,” says the photographer clearly about him.

The presentation Lots of stuff has been very successful since opening. It can be seen in the Starrett-Lehigh Building, in the Chelsea area of ​​New York, probably until the fall of 2025. It could then be displayed in a few other big cities around the world. If you don’t get to visit it, you can get an overview by visiting her website (www.abunchofstuff.com) or this page on the Tait Towers website: https://www.taittowers.com/work/bauart-a-bunch-of-stuff-johnny-depp.