Book Description

This beautifully illustrated volume is the first major survey of the sculpture of Roland Poulin. It brings together critical commentary by two leading scholars, an annotated catalogue of Poulin's complete works, and an index of Poulin's exhibitions in the United States, Europe, and Canada. Diana Nemiroff's account of Poulin's career covers his switch in material from cement to wood, past exhibitions, notable influences, and 16 sculptures and 23 companion drawings created between 1978 and 1993. She analyzes geometric tombs, altars, and hearths implied in his work and describes his unique interpretation of the boundaries between the spiritual and the material, fullness and emptiness, and life and death. Donald Kuspit links Poulin's obsession with death to his rebellion against twentieth-century Minimalism and describes the cultural and psychological dynamics embodied in his sculpture. Roland Poulin's work is the subject of a major solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, from November 4, 1994 to February 12, 1995. Past venues of his exhbitions include the Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal, Musee d'Art Moderne de Sainte-Etienne, the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, and the Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art, New York.