Collections Detail – MAC Montréal

Guido Molinari, *Quantificateur bleu 12/93*, © The Estate of Guido Molinari / SODRAC (2017) • Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay

Artist: Guido Molinari
Title: Quantificateur bleu 12/93
Dimensions and medium: Acrylic on canvas, 274.3 × 366 cm
Origin: Gift of the artist
Artwork description: After years spent exploring the rhythm of vertical chromatic structures in his paintings from the 1960s, and the vertical/horizontal relationship of his checkered “structures” from the early 1970s, Guido Molinari introduced the energy of the diagonal into his practice. In 1975, he began producing his Quantificateurs, a series he would continue to develop until 1997, and which represents his most long-lasting interest. The works in this series are based on the polarizing effect of the diagonal line when set up as quasi-vertical stripes, which generates a visual activity based on the oscillation of a left-right lateral thrust. Because of their large scale in relation to the human body, they are mainly taken in as total visual environments rather than objects. Painted with a restricted range of chromatic values, they require a high degree of concentration to define the limits of each shape and colour. The work’s full visual effect occurs over time, adding a contemplative aspect to the aesthetic experience. Quantificateur bleu 12/93 is part of the final body of work from this large project, a series of blue monochromes Molinari produced between 1991 and 1997. As such, it is a stunning example of the artist’s experimentation with colour-energy, which reached its quintessence in the slow perception of subtle, successive chromatic values that lie at the very edge of invisibility. In its own way, the painting embodies a visual language that is imbued with the genuine need to continuously reinvent our understanding of space and the meaning we invest in it.

Guido Molinari

Quantificateur bleu 12/93, 1993

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