The system or the systematic provides the foil for Patrick Coutu's current solo exhibition at Réne Blouin, which brings together a selection of the artist's most recent sculptural works, all produced in 2013, alongside a series of process-oriented paintings and drawings. Each of Coutu's vertical, figure-scaled sculptures are entirely composed of hundreds of tiny bronze cubes and constructed to create the impression of precariously stacked assemblages.
Patrick Coutu, Cristalmath 2 (2, 4, 6), 2013, bronze (photo: Richard-Max Tremblay)
One of the sculptures in particular (Cristalmath 2 (2, 4, 6)), leans ever so slightly to one side, causing a reflex in the viewer to tiptoe around its periphery, fearful of disrupting its impossible balance. Coutu's cubes not only mimic the natural growth of cubic-structured crystal formations, but also allude to the organizational system of digital visual information. Similar to the effect of a pixilated image, with enough distance the forms give way to organic masses that weave inwards and outwards, governing their own rules of dimensionality.
Hanging on the wall are a series of drawings on graph paper (entitled Vie et mort d'un système au départ aléatoire) that also establish systems denoted by a series of cubic elements. Evocative of Hanne Darboven's drawings from the seventies that reflect her personal language developed as a method by which to record time and, essentially, artistic production, Coutu's drawings utilize a similar methodology while providing a counterpoint to Darboven's math-driven logic. The Montreal artist posits the idea of construction and growth as a synonymous notion, insisting on the system as a breeding ground for organic forms of negotiation through multifarious forms of negation.
Galerie René Blouin: http://www.galeriereneblouin.com/index.html
Patrick Coutu continues until June 15.
Iliana Antonova is writer and curator. She is also Akimblog's new Montreal correspondent and can be followed @ilianaantonova on Twitter.
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Patrick Coutu at Rene Blouin
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