“ The last time I saw Alain and Ariane we had lunch together, at Lucy-Ann’s on the lower east side. And I was thinking “where did I meet Alain?.” You know, I really don’t know, all the sudden, we just seemed to have appeared in each other’s presence, and we have kept coincidentally falling in front of each other at different events and at different exhibitions and concerts.

It was evident from the moment that I met Alain and Ariane that they were really Artists. They love the entire breath and scope of art. That was quite prevalent in both of their works. 

The last time I played at the loft was with Tom Buckner and David Virelles in 2011. I’m not a sculptor-historian, or a historian of portraits or anything, but all art affects me the same way. You go to Alain’s house and it was the presence – the real presence of the work. This has nothing to do with analyzation. The power of the presence of it. 

The power of the presence of music, the power of the presence of a sculpture, the power of the presence of a photograph. Before one begins to delve into formal aspects of it, or how you can be informed by it. That was the thing that struck me about Alain’s work. The power of its presence. 

After that, I remember, touring around a piece of work, and then we began the process of being informed, but informed not on the basis of where I was in my life, that was the interesting part, not in an analysis of what he was doing, but how what he was doing was allowing me to see what I was doing in a different light, or in a broader light. That’s what was so important about his work and the type of people that he drew into his presence. When we performed there, I had been up to the house prior to that and looked at the work, and just got a feel for it and, just to see how it registered. How is it alive? Is it alive. I remember going there first, a few days before, before I started writing down some sketches for us to work with. 

And then, once we were in the space, what we were doing became an installation extension.

What was already there had wide open arms. And it permitted an installation extension of itself. Because that’s the way he felt. That came through his work. It was an openness that would allow for art, regardless of genre. It could be embraced in his work, and he could embrace any art form.

What a wonderful human being, what a great person to know, and still know. 

I don’t think of Alain in the past tense. I think of him right now in the present, and I think he’ll always be in the present tense with me. I have no sadness, because there’s too much to hold onto and too much to remember. 

That’s about all I can say. And good to see you Ariane!

Henry Threadgill

A Tribute to Alain Kirili, A live talk at the Brooklyn Rail, 2021