"I spent a Sunday morning traveling around the Montréal Metro system, investigating the different designs of the metro stations, as each one in the city is unique from the rest. I traveled to stations I rarely visited, and when I pulled into this station, it immediately struck me as an interesting clash of lines and outlandish bench designs. The almost throne-like appearance of the bench is in immediate competition with the strong horizontal lines of the bricks behind it as well as the diamond-tiles of the floor. Opened in 1988, it’s a testament to the “over-design” of the 1980s and would undoubtedly never be designed like this today. That’s not meant to detract from the design, but rather to suggest that it’s a snapshot of a different design aesthetic where function took more of a backseat to showmanship." John van der Woude was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada and initially studied art and design at Camosun College in Victoria, BC. He later received his BFA Interdisciplinary degree from NSCAD University in Halifax, NS in 2007. He is an award-winning artist who has shown work across the country. His work is in numerous public and private collections. He currently lives in Kelowna, BC with his wife and son.
