A.L.F.A. Galerie

Profile

A.L.F.A. is exclusively about drawings, a term we stretch out to gouache, pastel and water colour. It was founded in Saint-Germain des Près in 2002, and nurtured to its present renown by Aude Lamorelle shortly after pocketing her master's degree in art history.  She has an established presence at the Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris, Salon du dessin contemporain (Paris) and New York's Armory Show.

CONTEMPORARY DRAWINGS

One of Aude's sidelines is her personal collection of contemporary drawings. In 2008, she focused her experience on lifting the public profiles of fresh talent. Thus, A.L.F.A. started a project for artists who had never exhibited, or at least simply never had a personal exhibition in France before (but yes, she does established artists too). Priority goes to artists for whom drawing is the primary medium.

WHY DRAWING _

Collectors of drawings relate intensely to their items, partly because drawings are inherently so fragile. Their conservation entails heavy constraints and jealous care by their current guardians. Drawings are echo chambers of the mind, spaces where spontaneity best meets creativity. Drawings are the first rough drafts of intuitive awareness. Their immediacy defines an artist's style. They reveal the essence of an artist through a cursive distinct from all others. "Writing and drawing are basically the same thing," Klee used to say. Ingres called it "the moral integrity of art". Color does not compensate for a flawed stroke. And many a defender of colour over line has underscored the importance of drawing to their careers. Giacometti ranked it as his top concern: "If you truly master drawing, everything becomes possible." This is a reminder that, as in the myth of Dibutade, drawing is the cradle of all art.
For the 19th and 20th centuries, we have far more artwork on paper than canvases and sculptures, if only because drawing is the most convenient form of art to practice. While major paintings have become scarce, the universe of drawings remains wide open to enviable new discoveries. Moreover, a new wave of drawing is flourishing as it continues to attract growing numbers of talented artists, some of whom would do nothing less. If proof were still needed, their commitment shows that a smaller drawing can be as monumental as a vast canvas and that the spectacular has not upstaged quality.

represented artists