Additional Images

Provenance:

Art Rental Service, Art Gallery of Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto

Literature:

Lawrence Sabbath, "Sculptor invites public to 'play' with work," The Gazette, Montreal, 22 August 1981.

Note:

Associated with les Automatistes, Comtois worked across a variety of media – from paintings, murals, sculpture, draughting and photography. In speaking of the artist’s sculptural works Lawrence Sabbath wrote, “Ulysse Comtois should have his name writ large in the history books of art, for he is one who believes that art need not be sacred, that it can be a source of fun without any loss of respect for artist or object.” This statement also resonates for the artist’s two-dimensional works. Here Comtois’ non-figurative painting creates modular forms, wherein a painterly quality is still evident – through strips and rectangles. Colour bars over a vivid background form linear juxtapositions that play with the eyes. As if mirroring the bright colours and interlocking forms of his sculptures from the same time, Comtois creates in Quatre Zones a powerful yet playful work, assertive in both its colour and its line.