Alain Séchas: From Sculpture to Painting, a Perpetual Movement

Alain Séchas, born in 1955 in Colombes and living in Paris, has recently shifted from sculpture to oil painting, as seen in his latest works like Untitled 27 (215 x 135 cm), which emphasizes lightness and 'negation of weight' through diaphanous gradients. His paintings, such as Untitled 25 and Untitled 14, feature brushstrokes that evoke Hokusai and Hiroshige, alongside tags and splashes. In 2008, at Musée Bourdelle, he presented Centaure Mourant 2.0, his last mechanical sculpture, a replica of the museum's Centaur that disarticulates and reassembles. In 2009, exhibitions at Mamco (Geneva) and Galerie Chantal Crousel (Paris) showcased large acrylics on paper marouflaged on canvas, characterized by a tension between sumptuous color and erasure. His series Foggy Days (2006) and Critérium (2008) reflect a compulsive, feverish filling of space. His work, including sculptures like Platée (installed at Jardin des Plantes, Paris, in 2011), consistently explores the paradoxical relationship between elegance and rage. Recent oil paintings abandon titles and humor, focusing on direct, striking images that require no prior knowledge. Critic Jean-Marc Huitorel, based in Rennes, notes that Séchas refuses to be defined by any medium, having never considered himself a sculptor or painter.