Pierre Alechinsky

PIERRE ALECHINSKY (Brussels, 1927)
"Seizieme arrondonemene au Paris", 1983.
Lithograph, copy 7/99.
Signed and justified in pencil.
Measurements: 31,5 x 47,5 cm (paper).

In this work, Alechinsky intervenes in a cartographic map of the 16th arrondissement of Paris by means of his characteristic gestural, energetic and meandering stroke. Over the objective precision of the map, the artist superimposes an organic figure outlined in intense blue, generating a dialogue between structure and spontaneity, between the urban and the imaginary.

A prominent member of the CoBrA group, Alechinsky developed a language that fuses the European graphic tradition with influences from oriental calligraphy. In this lithograph, that synthesis is manifested in the freedom of the stroke and in the tension between printed background and added drawing, reaffirming his interest in the intervention and poetic re-reading of pre-existing images. The work is part of his extensive series of works on maps and documents, where he transforms everyday materials into territories of imagination and plastic energy.

Alechinsky is one of the most relevant contemporary Belgian artists. A founding member of COBRA (1948-1951), he developed an oeuvre deeply influenced by automatism, oriental calligraphy and gestural painting. Throughout his career he has worked indistinctly in painting, drawing and graphic work, exhibiting in leading international institutions. His work is kept in important institutions such as the Marion Lefebre Collection in Los Angeles, the Galerie Leolong in Paris, the Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, the MoMA, etc.