Ulysse Comtois was born in Granby in 1931 and studied at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal. Affiliated with the Automatists, he participated in two of their exhibitions: La matière chante (1954) and Espace 55 (1955). In 1968, alongside Guido Molinari, Comtois represented Canada at the Venice Biennale. The retrospective exhibition Ulysse Comtois 1952-1982 was presented by the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in 1983. Comtois died in Montréal in 1999. Two years later, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec presented the exhibition Dessins inédits.
Artwork description
The artwork is presented in the outdoor site at the Musée de Lachine. It is an abstract sculpture made of welded steel plates whose surface is completely covered with painted motifs in red, white, green, and black. The volume is composed of two polyhedrons with flat surfaces, assembled more or less perpendicular to each other.
Décor is part of the series of sculpted and painted works that Comtois began in 1964. The coloured motifs that cover the artwork trick the viewer’s eye by changing the reading of the volume. They also create a playful effect and help to place the work in a register that is both geometric and organic.