Eight pink figures, roughly outlined in blue and red, populate ‘Voie piétonnière’ (1981) (which translates into English as the ‘pedestrian way’). These characters belong to the same universe as the pasted collage figures in Dubuffet's Théâtres de mémoire series (1975-79). They have visibly evolved from his early 1940s works, citizens of post-war Paris riding on public transport and strolling along the bustling streets. Although the title ‘Voie piétonnière’ conjures an urban space, the abstract ambiguity of the environment could be the fenced fields of the French countryside. The recurring partition of space generates zones of varying perspective and scale, which is typical of the Partitions (1980-81) series. 

Dubuffet began his Partitions in October 1980 with 27 works on paper. In January 1981 he began to paint in acrylic on sheets of paper adhered to canvas. Later, in 1982, he made paintings, such as ‘Voie piétonnière’, directly on the canvas. For ‘Voie piétonnière’ Dubuffet made a preliminary ink drawing titled ‘Site avec 8 personnages’ (1981), so, unlike much of Dubuffet's work produced in the spirit of experimentation and happy accident, ‘Voie piétonnière’ was intended to be a ‘final’ painting. This careful approach reflects the general mood of the Partitions series, which Dubuffet has often described as more deliberate than other parts of his oeuvre.