Louis Garneau’s title is synonymous with biking due to his time on the monitor and street as a Nationwide Champion and Olympic bike owner and, maybe to an excellent better extent, his eponymous attire model. Many individuals do not know that Louis Garneau can also be an achieved artist and makes use of his work to help a number of cycling-related causes.
Most not too long ago, Garneau has stepped as much as help Whirlwind, a film mission spotlighting biking’s first Black World Champion and one of many world’s first Black sports activities superstars: Marshall “Main” Taylor. He is painted 100 artwork items to assist make the documentary come alive.
“I attempted to make use of my expertise to the utmost to assist individuals,” Garneau tells Biking Weekly. And this mission serves as an opportunity to extend the notice of one in every of biking’s first superstars whereas additionally sharing a robust story of somebody who overcame the percentages to attain nice issues.
A Whirlwind of Exercise
(Picture credit score: Joycelyn Riendeau / Louis Garneau)
In March, Garneau first grew to become conscious of the Whirlwind movie mission and thought, “I will help.” After assembly with Whirlwind filmmaker Cyrille Vincent, in Worcester, Massachusetts (Main Taylor’s adopted hometown), Garneau supplied his help. Based mostly on prior expertise utilizing his inventive facet to lift cash, Garneau proposed a $1 million fundraising mission through which he’ll create 100 work impressed by Main Taylor, supplied at $10,000 apiece.
Impressively, Garneau produced a lot of the 100 prints over a single 24-hour inventive efficiency in his warehouse —portray all through the day and evening whereas nonetheless making time to sleep and trip his bike. He did some motor pacing through the inventive course of to “really feel Main Taylor’s soul and vitality, the Canadian says.
“I need to specific myself by a collection of work with a view to uncover the boundaries of my creativity. As in sports activities, every portray is altered by the collection, the repetition, the vitality, and the fatigue, creating stronger and extra fragile photos.”
Every portray is exclusive. Nonetheless, all 100 prints are based mostly on the identical 36×36 digital picture of Main Taylor. The American flag can also be a theme all through the collection of work, with stars and stripes adorning lots of the items. All proceeds raised by the sale of the work will go to the movie.
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Garneau says of the method, “It is like a motorbike race, you possibly can’t predict the way it will finish originally.”
That stated, the fundraising mission is proving to be a puncheur, accelerating up the steep climb to their fundraising aim. The primary print within the collection has already been offered to the Nationwide Financial institution of Canada and a number of 25 items from the collections are scheduled to be proven in an exhibition titled Resilience on the Worcester Heart for Crafts from June 27 to July 5. Garneau is planning to attend the exhibition’s opening evening.
Louis Garneau, the artiste
(Picture credit score: Joycelyn Riendeau / Louis Garneau)
Artwork has lengthy been a ardour of Louis Garneau, he holds a bachelor’s diploma in artwork from Laval College and infrequently makes use of his artwork to help packages expensive to his coronary heart.
Previously, Garneau donated 12 work to the Musée Nationwide des Beaux-arts du Québec as a part of a fundraising marketing campaign for the museum. He additionally created a collection of prints in help of the Rwandan nationwide biking crew, which he titled Hope, that raised $80,000 to be used in organizing coaching camps and enabling junior athletes, Rwandan ladies, Ethiopians, and Eritreans to take part in biking.
Louis Garneau stated of the Rwandan crew, “I’m crammed with admiration for these younger males who lived the atrocities of the genocide and who, refusing to be taken down, selected to maintain dwelling, opting to compete in probably the most demanding sports activities there’s.”
Along with his philanthropic efforts, Garneau’s work have hung in all places from museums and displays to companies like Mellow Johnny’s, the Austin, Texas, bike store owned by Lance Armstrong. Like many others on the peak of Armstrong’s dominance, Louis Garneau was impressed by his story of getting back from most cancers to win the Tour de France seven occasions and despatched him a print, which Armstrong hung within the retailer.
For these conversant in Main Taylor’s story, it is easy to see a standard thread of what conjures up Louis Garneau: grit, willpower, perseverance, and the facility of sport. For many who do not know the story of Main Taylor, it highlights the significance of sharing his story.
Racing forward
(Picture credit score: Joycelyn Riendeau / Louis Garneau)
Garneau’s ardour for Main Taylor is palpable; when talking with him, you’re feeling the vitality and regard he has for each the person and the movie.” This man is my idol. He was an actual individual. An actual human with excessive and low factors in his life,” Garneau says of Main Taylor.
Main Taylor’s story is one in every of defying the percentages, overcoming obstacles and paving the best way for future generations. In some ways, he even laid the inspiration for the biking business of right now.
“Folks do not know an excessive amount of about Main Taylor, however must study his story,” Garneau tells Biking Weekly. Throughout Main Taylor’s time, “everybody was to see the quickest man on the earth on a bicycle…biking was very, extremely popular. Main Taylor was originally of our business. He was a champion and a well-known man, however he had issues as a result of he was a Black man.. however he by no means gave up and continued to race.”
The biking business could also be a aggressive one, however there is a shared love of biking and respect for people who preceded them, Garneau factors out, hopeful that the Whirlwind movie will increase the funds it must be accomplished.
Whirlwind, the movie
(Picture credit score: Worcester Whirlwind)
Whirlwind is a deliberate documentary directed by Cyrille Vincent. In contrast to conventional documentaries, which depend on interviews, archives, and narration to inform Main Taylor’s story, Vincent intends for his movie to incorporate recreated scenes. In keeping with Vincent, recreation is a extra compelling cinematic language and can entice a extra numerous viewers. Vincent desires “thousands and thousands of individuals to see this [film] and get impressed.” Vincent additionally desires his movie to “convey the velocity, motion, approach, and technique” of motorbike racing.
The draw back of recreation, in keeping with Vincent, is that “it is plenty of time and plenty of work. It’s a must to dive into the smallest particulars of all the pieces you are going to present on display.” He goes on, “The recreation will get costly; there’s appearing, costumes, CGI, and modifying.”
Late in 2022, Vincent launched a two-minute trailer for the movie as a fundraising effort however nonetheless has an extended solution to go. He is hoping to lift $1.25 million to make the film and the sale of Louis Garneau’s 100 work can be an enormous step towards getting the film produced.
