A retrospective of Claude Tousignant, one of Canada’s most esteemed abstract artists, opened last week at the MAC. Organized chronologically, the show begins with the artist’s first experiments with abstraction in the 1950s, and traces his career through to the present day. I had the pleasure of touring the exhibition with Mr. Tousignant, and found it to be an illuminating experience.
For those unfamiliar with his work, he is perhaps best known for his monochromes—acrylic paintings in which the canvas is adorned with a single, unadulterated colour. MAC Director Marc Mayer describes Tousignant as an artist whose work he does not “fully understand.” I can certainly relate—they’re the paintings that I understand the least. But during the tour, I began to see a bit of what has driven Tousignant’s project these past 50 years: a desire to “simplify painting, to eliminate the tension” of more complex compositions, and to focus on just colour.
In 1956, while still in his early 20s, Tousignant exhibited a series of two- and three-colour compositions that were met with hostility and confusion. “Everybody thought I was either crazy, or they thought it wasn’t painting… that I was out of my mind. I mean, people were angry.” Around the same time, Tousignant painted what would be his first monochrome, titled simply “Monochromatique Orange.” He describes his feelings about the painting as “enthusiastic,” but put it aside, not wanting to be known as “the monochrome guy” and nervous about having to defend the work. “I wasn’t ready and I wanted to explore different ways of painting,” he said.
But by the late ’70s, after a decade of experimentation, he was ready. “I had it, ‘Monochromatique Orange,’ in my studio for a long while… and I could study it easily, you know. I’m not a great explainer of my work, it takes quite a few years to explain something… but I know what I’m doing, even if it’s not put into words.”
The second half of the exhibit is comprised almost entirely of monochromes, and I wondered aloud how this type of painting continues to inspire him. “It’s the desire for colour,” he explained. “The monochromes are not all the same. Some are shapes, some are square. And the space between the wall… if you put them on the wall, if you sit them on the floor, it gives you a different feeling. There is the dimension… the thickness of the canvas.”
As we continued to move through the gallery, Tousignant paused to straighten a canvas, or wipe away fingerprints left by a careless viewer. At times he sighed, resigned to the limitations of the gallery in terms of space and light. “I used to think only about painting. My life was painting. And it might sound romantic, but it isn’t. It’s a trade. You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to work at it. So I went to the studio five days a week, just working.”
Overall, this retrospective is an amazing opportunity to see the results of an artist staying true to his own philosophy. “All my life, I’ve been working against narration,” Tousignant explained. “A painting should be about painting. It shouldn’t tell stories.”
CLAUDE TOUSIGNANT,
A RETROSPECTIVE IS AT
THE MAC (185 STE-CATHERINE W.)
TO APRIL 26
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