After Geometry

the long version

After Geometry is the first extended study of the abstract art of Claude Tousignant. James Campbell treats the central achievements of his art, and offers new biographical insights into one of Canada's foremost abstract painters. Campbell discusses the principles of Tousignant's abstraction, covering all of his work - from the representational paintings of the late 1940s to the large monochrome paintings of today. He argues that Tousignant's is a "transgressive" art that shatters conventional meanings as it seeks to transcend geometry, and he discusses the artist's signature chromatic space, the "pure chroma" of his monochromes, and the positive scepticism infused in his work. With its extensive critical analysis of the artist's production over five decades, After Geometry presents one of Canada's greatest painters and offers a dramatically new perspective on Tousignant's art, engaging fundamental issues of the body, language, and being.