After receiving his graphic arts diploma from the
École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal in 1962, Tousignant began to study
lithography and
etching in the studio of
Albert Dumouchel. He continued his studies from 1962 to 1965 at the
Slade School of Fine Art, University College of London, England, where he studied painting and lithography. In 1967, he began producing sculpture that plays on illusion and engages the viewer in participation. In 1972, he began to use photography, which is the medium he has continued to use. In 1978, he began the photographic series
Geometrisation solaire, based on arrangements of sticks and the shadows they cast. The shadows of the sticks form geometric figures. In 2017, a
retrospective entitled
Serge Tousignant: Research Papers was held in Montreal at VOX, Centre de l'image contemporaine, of all the different formulations of his work from printmaking to photography. The Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art held a two-person show of Luis Jacob and Serge Tousignant titled
I See What You Are Looking At of Tousignaut's sculpture in 2019. His work resides in public collections such as the
National Gallery of Canada, the
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the
Victoria and Albert Museum, the
Tate Gallery, and in many other art galleries. Tousignant was a founding member of the artist-run gallery Véhicule and played an important role in the development of the Montreal art scene of the 1970s. He was also a professor at the
University of Montreal Art History department from 1974 to 2002. He is represented by Galerie Graff in Montreal. ==Awards==