Alechinsky de A à Y

This is the catalogue that accompanies the beautiful exhibition at the Musées royaux des beaux-arts, in Brussels. It is also a spiritual testament: the first part of the work is a chronology written up by the artist himself. In this «egochrono», Pierre Alechinsky, who prefers calling himself P. A., details his 80 years of life and creation, since his birth on 19 October 1927 at 9:30 PM. He shows his friends, members from Cobra to Walasse Ting, the trips and the different artistic phases. One is stunned by the continuity of certain practices such as the work on old printed material – cards or school children works from the XVIIIth century – which he started in 1948 and has visibly not finished, or the calligraphic approach. In the second part, Michel Draguet analyzes the constant elements of P. A.’s work: the influence of the Orient, water, the circle, the remarks on the margin (the rims that ressemble the predelles of the Renaissance). We will pause in the middle of our reading for an excellent diversion: the «Test of the title» is represented in its full version. Upon P. A.’s request, at the age of 61 «titlemen» (play on words with marksmen) had accepted to give a name to one of his works. From Karel Appel to Jan Voss, including Italo Calvino and François Truffaut, this is a monumental and daring "cadavre exquis".

« • Alechinsky de A à Y, Textes par Pierre Alechinsky et Michel Draguet, Gallimard, 2007, 288 p., 39 €, ISBN : 978-2-07-011910-3