Abstract

This thesis examines the theme of motion in art, focusing on three painters from Québec and the work they produced during the 1970s. Rita Letendre paints the motion of light, the refraction of beams, and the bending of space. Light appears in her images as something that is ever-changing, both hard and soft, fast and slow, present and absent. Claude Tousignant paints the gong-like vibration of colour waves, using contrasts of colour to divide and expand space. His work breaks down traditional concepts of stability and singularity, using polyphonic rhythms and stereo images to insist on double readings and multiple reactions. Serge Lemoyne paints movement of bodies as well as movement through bodies. Accidental streams of paint betray the artist's presence, giving his images a nervous vitality and making them appear like works in progress. Motion brings about change and change is something people try to manipulate to their advantage, either entrenching or uprooting positions. To analyze these strategic repositions, I turn to the French philosopher, Gilles Deleuze. Several of his concepts, such as affect, Anti-Oedipus, the Body without Organs, difference and repetition, nomads, the diagram, the refrain, and deterritorialization, help to redefine the way we think about boundaries and moving bodies. These concerns coincide with explorations along similar lines by the artists in my study, artists who push at the boundaries of their medium to create questions and to expand into areas where new discoveries can be made.