Biography

1972
Exhibits first sculpture, a sheet of cold-cut zinc, at the Sonnabend Gallery in Paris. Kirili’s work will continue to appear regularly at this gallery in both Paris and New York. Meets Robert Rauschenberg, who invites him to New York. Produces his first abstract modeling, an unfired clay pierced with a thin steel plate.

1976
After several stays in New York as part of studio exchanges, Kirili has a one-man show at the Clocktower and another group show at The John Weber Gallery. His work is included in the inaugural show at P.S. One. Meets Robert Morris and Robert Ryman. Begins research on iron forging in the Tyrol, working with craftsman Florian Unterrainer.

1977
His work appears for the first time in Documenta 6 in Kassel. Meets photographer Ariane Lopez-Huici; the two marry in October.

1978
First trip to India generates tremendous interest and enthusiasm. Photographs Yoni-Lingam sculptures. Discovers technical possibility of firing solid clay, creating terra cotta with iron inclusions. This bold turn becomes the first of the artist’s significant technical innovations. First one-man show at the Sonnabend Gallery in New York.

1979
In May, Kirili speaks on “Ecstasy in Baroque Sculpture” at New York’s Museum of Modern Art to mark the museum’s first acquisition of his work, the sculpture Indian Curve.

1980
Moves into a loft on White Street across the street from Barnett Newman’s. Creates the first of his Commandement series. Returns to India and photographs the Yoni-Lingam liturgy in a temple at Tanjore (Thanjavur). Continues to divide his time between Paris and New York.

1982
Begins teaching theory and practice of sculpture at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

1984
MOMA acquires Kirili’s forged-iron scupture Cortege. Sculpts his first monumental bronze, Grande nudité.

1985
Dialogic exhibition at the Musee Rodin in Paris, juxtaposing Kirili’s sculptures with those of Rodin.

1986
Kirili’s ensemble of forged welded-steel elements Grand Commandement Blanc opens in Paris at the Tuileries Garden. In New York, discovers the possibility of forging aluminum. This innovation leads to the development of his series of Kings and to the ensemble Oratorio. Publishes Statuaire (Paris, Denoel, 1986), a volume of essays and interviews on sculpture.

1987
Publishes a book on Rodin’s erotic drawings (Rodin: dessins érotiques [Gallimard]) and pursues an immediate, fundamental relation with Rodin’s sense of eroticism.

1992
Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy performs inside Kirili’s Commandement ensemble at New York’s Thread Waxing Space, launching an ongoing series of dialogues and collaborations between jazz musicians and Kirili’s sculpture.

1996
In Paris, the Ministry of Culture exhibits Kirili’s Commandement in the Tuilerie Garden for a second time. In conjunction with this event, Kirili is instrumental in having a group of modern and contemporary sculptures, predecessors and contempories of his work, permanently installed in the Tuileries.

1997
Publishes Celebrations (Paris: Christian Bourgois, 1997), a book documenting his jazz/sculptural collaborations with Cecil Taylor, Steve Lacy, Roy Haynes, Billy Bang, Archie Shepp, Sunny Murray, and others.

1999
The Musee de Grenoble puts on a major retrospective of Kirili’s work since 1980.

2000
Experiments with resin as a sculptural material (Ascencion, Abbaye de Montmajour, Arles) and diversifies the colors of his modeled clays.

2001
Develops flesh-colored terra cotta pieces Clemence in a new spirit of serenity and experiments with polychrome waxes as a sculptural material.

2002
Dialogic exhibition with the works of Carpeaux at the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes, celebrating 30 years of Kirili’s modeled clays. Debut of the publicly commissioned work “Ascension” in the Abbaye de Montmajour, Provence.

2003
Invited by Kosme de Baranano, director of IVAM, to exhibit in dialogue with works of Julio Gonzalez at IVAM Valencia. The resulting exhibition is “Alain Kirili Homenaje a Julio Gonzalez.” In March and April, Kirili curates the first-ever exhibition of David Smith drawings at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. During the summer, travels to Mali to forge his Segou series.

2004
In February, returns to Senegal where he forges new iron sculptures. Travels to Beirut for first attempt to visit and work at an aluminum factory. Exhibition at the New York Studio School with a concert featuring Alvin Lucier, Daniel Carter, Leroy jenkins, Thomas Buckner.

2005
In April, invited by the Ministery of Culture to exhibit Segou and Totems at the Jardin du Palais-Royal (Paris). A concert "Jazz & Sculpture" featuring Joseph Jarman, Thomas Buckner, Dalila Khatir and Jérôme Bourdellon is organised at the Theatre of Palais-Royal.

2006
In January, Musée D'Orsay, Paris : in the current exhibition in the Museum's "Correspondances" series, Alain Kirili creates a dialogue between his sculpture, A Throw of the Dice Will Never Abolish Sculpture, and Edward Steichen's photographs of Rodin's Balzac. The sculpture is here shown in front of Gustave Courbet's painting, Origin of the World.

2007
In New York, the Salander-O'Reilly galleries proposes an exhibition Kirili-Lachaise, with his sculptures In Extremis and Nataraja. A selection of his writings and interviews, Mémoires de sculpteur, is published by the edition of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, of Paris. The Musée de l'Orangerie invites him to exhibit his sculptures and drawings, in dialogue with les Nymphéas from Claude Monet. For this exhibition Kirili et les Nymphéas, he realises Commandement, à Claude Monet, his first monumental Commandement made in coloured concrete. His monumental sculpture in pierre de Bourgogne, Hommage à Charlie Parker, will be inaugurated Espace Massena, in Paris.

2009
At the IVAM Museum of Valencià, Consuelo Ciscar Casaban organises a major retrospective of Kirili’s work, curated by David Cohen.