Clement Exhibition Catalogue

Alain ClĂŠment

02.09.12 - 18.09.12

Nirox Foundation will be hosting French artist Alain Clément in association with Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris during September 2012 as part of the France – South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013. In addition to one of Clément’s monumental sculptures being installed at the Nirox Foundation Sculpture Park – NIROXprojects will be hosting an exhibition of Clément’s wall sculptures at Arts on Main, Maboneng Precinct, Johannesburg from 02 – 18 September.

Installation view | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

The singularity of Alain Clement’s work lies on the close relations he establishes by constant round-trips between painting and sculpture. These relations are enriched by the practice of engraving to which he has been dedicating a peculiar care. Like drawings this technique allows him to evaluate the situation of his research about the space by insisting on the work on the line. The paradox is still running on and pretends, by this exercise, to transform the bi-dimensional space of the paper or the canvas into a field of experiment of the graven space. When Alain Clement was working on the painted wall relieves he was talking about colour in volumes. The colour was then disturbing the plans. Nowadays, painting still embodies this role but in a graphic dimension.

Values, strokes, lines, ribbons and frameworks are working on the space, denying, forcing, digging in it, in an abundant work, going beyond formalistic questions and claiming the expressive and polysemous power of painting.

Alain Clément was born in 1941 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and he now lives and works in Paris and Nîmes. He began painting in the early 1960s. His work, built around recurring subjects, explores the specific qualities and characteristics of the medium: colour, shape, volume, representational modes, etc. For the past 20 years he has been concentrating on an investigation of artistic processes, such as painting, watercolours sculptures, wall sculpture. Space in his painting becomes a structure. The paint is applied in flat strokes on the surface of the canvas, creating a vibrant pattern of vivid colours.

The uniqueness of Clément’s work is based on the relationships he weaves between painting and sculpture. The relationship is enriched by the use of engraving. Clément defines his painted wall sculptures as volumes of colour where the paint is disrupting the plans. In his most recent works, the paint plays the same role, but in a graphic dimension. Dimensions, traits, lines and ribbons transform the space of the canvas. They deny this space, they force it, they dig into it, in a work that goes past the formalistic genres and asserts the expressive and polysemous power of painting. Since the early 1980s, his work has been presented by his galleries at many international art fairs: Basel, Cologne, Karlsruhe, Paris (FIAC, Art Paris, Art Elysées), New Delhi, Dubai and Seoul.

His exhibitions have included: Orangerie-Reinz gallery / Art Cologne (Cologne, Germany, 2000), baudoin lebon gallery (Paris, France, 2003), Alain Clément, baudoin lebon gallery / FIAC (Paris, France, 2005), Alain Clément 2004-2007 baudoin lebon gallery (Paris, France, 2007).

Art Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe, Germany, 2008), Alain Clément 2009-2010 baudoin lebon gallery (Paris, France, 2010), Alain Clément 2005-2012, Hôtel des Arts de Toulouse (Toulouse, France, 2012).

Installation view | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

12 A 1S | Wall sculpture | Painted steel | 100 x 100cm | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

12 A 2S | Wall sculpture | Painted steel | 100 x 100cm | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

12 A 3S | Wall sculpture | Painted steel | 100 x 100cm | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

12 A 4S | Wall sculpture | Painted steel | 100 x 100cm | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

12 A 5S | Wall sculpture | Painted steel | 100 x 100cm | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

12 A 6S | Wall sculpture | Painted steel | 100 x 100cm | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

12 A 7S | Wall sculpture | Painted steel | 100 x 100cm | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

12 A 8S | Wall sculpture | Painted steel | 100 x 100cm | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

12 A 9S | Wall sculpture | Painted steel | 100 x 100cm | Alain ClĂŠment | 2012

The France – South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013 are organised and implemented : For France:

By Institut français with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Ministry for Sports, Youth, Non-formal Education and Voluntary Organisations, the Ministry of Industrial Renewal, the Ministry of Craft Industry, Trade and Tourism, the French Embassy in South Africa and the network of Alliance Française.

Chairman: Xavier Darcos General Commissioner: Laurent Clavel For South Africa: By the Department of Arts and Culture and the National Arts Council (NAC), with the support of the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Sports and Recreation, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Department of Basic Education, and the Embassy of South Africa in France.

Chairman: Dikgang Moopeloa.

General Commissioner: Bongani Tembe.

The French Season in South Africa is supported in 2012 by a committee of sponsors chaired by Mr Luc Oursel, AREVA President and Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Executive Board of AREVA. This committee is made of the following corporations : AREVA, Air France, Bouygues Travaux Publics, EDF, GDF-SUEZ, Mazars, Fondation Orange and Total.

Event organised as part of the France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013 www.france-southafrica.com NIROXprojects contact person: Neil Nieuwoudt E: neil.nieuwoudt@gmail.com T: +27 72 350 4326 Adress: 249 Fox Street, cnr of Main Rd, Art on Main, Maboneng Precinct, Johannesburg Please visit www.mabonengprecinct.com for further directions.

Photography and design by Neil Nieuwoudt