ALAIN CHEVRETTE

I met Alain Chevrette in 2018. His gallery in Lyon had closed, and I was honored by the possibility of collaborating with the esteemed artist in my young gallery. Of course, I was familiar with his past work. The discovery of his current artworks began with a visit to the Château de Vogüé in Ardèche during the summer of 2018, at the 'Colors' exhibition. I was immediately captivated by the chromatic harmony (red, orange, pink), the free and spontaneous painting, and the expressionistic abstraction. My memories of figurative art were disoriented, and his style aligned with my present artistic expectations. His direction towards abstraction and his complete questioning of it delighted me. The figures and architectures had completely disappeared, leaving an impression of spontaneity and emotional intensity in front of the artworks. Vibrant and colorful surfaces persisted, bearing traces of magmatic landscapes. It was decided! We would collaborate... Therefore, the Valérie Eymeric Gallery presented 'Vibrations' in March 2019. Large canvases filled the exhibition space, dominated by blue. It evoked the water of basins where a lively and vibratory form emerged from the depths. Bold, vigorous strokes crossed the surface of the paintings. Alain Chevrette enjoyed capturing the flow of energy that he projected onto the canvas, reminiscent of Jean Degottex or Georges Mathieu. He also exhibited with the Bouche Gallery in Paris at the Salon de Mars, alongside major French abstract artists such as Pierre Tal Coat and Monique Frydman. The painting became gestural and audacious. Ultramarine, Prussian blue, and turquoise illuminated the walls of my gallery, impressing my visitors... Since that series, the painter has continued his work of incessant observation of nature, which he began ten years ago. For the 'Pictorial Surface' exhibition in 2023, the painter employs a broader chromatic palette. Reds, pinks, oranges, and even a superb shade of mauve reappear. Dark and light colors coexist in measured and organized anarchy. From this bubbling emerges harmony, softness, and balance, as if Alain Chevrette, at the scale of a remarkable career, decided to infuse order into the chaos of the current world." Valérie Eymeric, April 2023