by Joachim Pissarro

I remember every single studio visit I did with Alain. Each was like an individual poem.

These rich, sensual visits included a dialogue between the man, the artist, and the works, an experience that transcended most others. There was something theatrical about the presence of these intricate, eerie, quasi-magical abstract figures that were oozing with life. And then there was Alain himself: the orchestrator, the stage director of these visits. And Alain’s warm voice and his unshakable French accent set the tone for this choreography between the sculptures. He had an almost mythical attachment to the Medieval art that he resurrected, reinvented, and rekindled in so many fresh and provocative ways.

He mastered the art of wrought iron, and he’s the only artist I can think of who did so. The idea of him going to the smith to forge these pieces is incredible. From this crazy technique came something unique.

There was a link between his life and his work, a shared message deepest in the hearts of both. He often said that today’s society, especially in America, sorely lacked sensuality. He was a pillar of life, a force, a lightning rod in the contemporary art world—especially in New York—with works represented in many major museums. Despite that, he felt isolated and marginalized because minimalism was so rigid and unable to embrace warmth. Alain echoed this message in every visit and I cherish his words.

I once brought my graduate seminar from Hunter to Alain’s studio, and the students who were in attendance still thank me years later for the divine visit. He started speaking to them about the New York art world in the ’70s and ’80s before moving into music—he managed to cover every aspect of life and every dimension of the art world, in its totality, passionately. Many people went back to visit him separately. They became friends with him. Alain Kirili was an extraordinary human, and humane, being.

Joachim Pissarro

A Tribute to Alain Kirili – The Brooklyn Rail - Nov 2021