Triple exhibit is modern & diverse
The Gazette
Saturday, october 18, 1986, page C-4
Triple exhibit is modern, diverse
By LAWRENCE SABBATH Special to The Gazette
Cycle récent et autres indices presents the recent work of two painters, a sculptor and a photographer. As with Objels d'inédit, there is no direct relationship, on the surface, between what these Quebec artists do, except that Michel Goulet, Louise Robert and Serge Tousignant are well-known to the art community from their numerous shows - Michel Martineau is much less familiar - and like their younger colleagues in Objets d inédit they are engaged in expanding the frontiers of their particular styles.
In his acrylics on canvas, which date mostly in 1982, Martineau makes two concessions to the popularity of the new figurative movement and to classical references. Unlike many artists who went in for exaggerated and frequently vinlent figuration, Martineau's comments on history are more serene. Taking mild-mannered Raphaël as his target, Martineau proceeds to a playful, almost caricatural transformation of famed Raphaël paintings.
As Pablo Picasso sometimes did, Goulet works with toys to create unusual objects. Goulet, however, goes much farther. In Trophee, he works with steel, a toy truck, many kinds of rusted and painted metals, wires of all kinds, a stepladder and the outward frame of a Procrustean-type bed. The result is a humorous, if wry, comment on things people normally take seriously. Goulet is nothing if not in ingenious craftsman.
Tousignant remains as sprightly as ever, still the ultimate researcher who borrows everything that painting and sculpture have to offer and blithely uses them for his own purpose, all the while adding his special imaginative touches to make colored photos look unlike anything else. Louise Robert also takes the viewer to something of a dream world. These fanciful acrylics on canvas could be seen as a play on tourist posters for tropical resorts.
The artist's colors are warm and vibrant, with the shape of a triangle and palm trees prominent. Robert does not have a trained eye for compositional niceties like balance, tonal values and graceful configuration. What emerges is the unexpected and naïve freshness.
Saturday, october 18, 1986, page C-4
Triple exhibit is modern, diverse
By LAWRENCE SABBATH Special to The Gazette
Cycle récent et autres indices presents the recent work of two painters, a sculptor and a photographer. As with Objels d'inédit, there is no direct relationship, on the surface, between what these Quebec artists do, except that Michel Goulet, Louise Robert and Serge Tousignant are well-known to the art community from their numerous shows - Michel Martineau is much less familiar - and like their younger colleagues in Objets d inédit they are engaged in expanding the frontiers of their particular styles.
In his acrylics on canvas, which date mostly in 1982, Martineau makes two concessions to the popularity of the new figurative movement and to classical references. Unlike many artists who went in for exaggerated and frequently vinlent figuration, Martineau's comments on history are more serene. Taking mild-mannered Raphaël as his target, Martineau proceeds to a playful, almost caricatural transformation of famed Raphaël paintings.
As Pablo Picasso sometimes did, Goulet works with toys to create unusual objects. Goulet, however, goes much farther. In Trophee, he works with steel, a toy truck, many kinds of rusted and painted metals, wires of all kinds, a stepladder and the outward frame of a Procrustean-type bed. The result is a humorous, if wry, comment on things people normally take seriously. Goulet is nothing if not in ingenious craftsman.
Tousignant remains as sprightly as ever, still the ultimate researcher who borrows everything that painting and sculpture have to offer and blithely uses them for his own purpose, all the while adding his special imaginative touches to make colored photos look unlike anything else. Louise Robert also takes the viewer to something of a dream world. These fanciful acrylics on canvas could be seen as a play on tourist posters for tropical resorts.
The artist's colors are warm and vibrant, with the shape of a triangle and palm trees prominent. Robert does not have a trained eye for compositional niceties like balance, tonal values and graceful configuration. What emerges is the unexpected and naïve freshness.