Jean Noël completed a BA and studies in administration before becoming a student at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal (1960-1963). Cut from painted metal, his puzzle-shaped sculptures drew much attention in Montreal and Toronto from the very start of his career. He left for Paris right after taking part in the infamous Corridart exhibition of 1976, which was dismantled as soon as it opened on the orders of Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau. His work made a lasting impression in France, as reflected by his exhibitions at the Fondation Cartier and several contemporary art centres, as well as his inclusion in the collection of the Musée National d’Art Moderne, housed at the Centre Georges Pompidou. More recently, he presented La mécanique des fluides at the Musée d’art de Joliette (2002), and his works can also be found in many public collections in Quebec and Ontario. Using a range of materials (fibreglass, steel rods, corrugated polyester, enamelled wood), Noël creates brightly coloured, at times luminous works that are both complex and delicate, occasionally mounting them on the wall or suspending them from the ceiling with fine strings that bring out the notions of balance and imbalance.
SEE:
« The Star-Studded Studio : In memory of Ulysse Comtois » by Jean-Pierre Latour, ESPACE #50, p. 12.
« Jean Noël : La Mécanique des fluides » by René Viau, ESPACE#58, p. 46.
« Trois sculpteurs atypiques » by Gilles Daigneault, ESPACE #63, p. 33.
« Colour in… 3D » by Serge Fisette, ESPACE #86, p. 5.
