22AV4P-2022

Born in 1941, Alain Clément is a prominent figure in French contemporary abstraction. Working between Nîmes and Paris, the painter, sculptor, and printmaker has dedicated decades to investigating the interplay between colour, space, and volume.
After studying at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and training in printmaking at the historic Atelier 17 in Paris,Clément developed an approach where the flatness of the canvas is in constant dialogue with the physical weight of sculpture. While his compositions display an immediate gestural vitality, they are grounded in rigorous structural architecture. Clément's work is represented in major public and private collections, including a major donation to the Centre Pompidou.

This painting exemplifies Alain Clément’s mature style, in which the boundary between painting and sculpture dissolves. Broad, interlocking ribbons of saturated pigment fold over and under one another, bounded by crisp contours that carve out a powerful illusion of three-dimensional space. Directly echoing the twisted planes of his painted steel sculptures, the composition operates like a dynamic architectural puzzle. The result is a bold, energetic balance of structural rigor and intense chromatic vibration.