Eruption

After earning a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Concordia University, Coutu embarked on a singular career, making sculpture and other visual works that set him apart from the previous generation of artists. His pieces are inspired by his explorations of the natural world and its phenomena. Assemblages of sedimentary layers, his sculptures evoke rock formations, algae swaying on the ocean seabed or trees whipped by the wind.


With Eruption, Coutu gives us a dynamic interpretation of mathematical models intended to demonstrate the evolution of natural structures. Visitors are dazzled by the Sun and its many pieces. Eruption reminds us of the curiosity cabinets of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in which people aspired to apprehend the truth and comprehend the world. Science took a more “Cartesian” turn—scientists gradually turned away from the world of beliefs and allegories, shifting from alchemy to chemistry and from astrology to astronomy. Eruption is a strange portal, one that invites viewers into the secret and fascinating world of cabinets of wonders.