Alain Clément

In Alain Clément’s paintings as in his sculptures, it is a falsely “gestural” work, less spontaneous than it seems. All these works are constructed and drawn beforehand, the compositions are not the result of a simple gesture, but of a deep reflection.

In Alain Clément’s work, sculpture participates in an evolution of painting: it has not only allowed him to get rid of all illusionism, to reinforce the work of colour, to soften the forms, to make simpler works, with less superimposition of planes, colours… In short, to reinforce the presence of the object-painting, by its frontality, its unity.

Contrary to Greenberg’s postulates, Alain Clément cannot conceive a “flat” painting, in painting there is always a depth, a volume. The gesture of writing takes charge of the constitution of the space and as with all great formalists, the form contributes to drawing the background.

Alain Clément does not only propose an abstract formalism, he uses the optical efficiency and clarity of composition to subvert this vocabulary, giving it a relatively expressive and carnal dimension. 

In Alain Clément’s work, sculpture, not only metaphorically but also materially, comes from painting. The volume is not created from an inert material (wood, stone, earth…), but from the plane and by taking off from the plane. Sculptures, such as those seen in the exhibition, are first of all the object of drawings, gouaches…; the drawings transferred to the sheets of sheet metal constitute the cutting and folding lines of the plate: what was inscribed in the plan becomes volume in space.

In return, sculpture contributes to an evolution of painting: it has not only allowed it to get rid of all illusionism, to reinforce the work of colour, to soften the forms, to make simpler paintings, with less superimposition of planes, colours… In short, to reinforce the presence of the painted object, by its frontality, its unity.