ABOUT — ALAIN A MOREAU

A native of France Alain André Moreau moved to America in 1964 after earning an MFA from the School of Decorative Arts in France. He began his career thereafter first as a graphic designer and later went on to freelance as an illustrator. He worked for the Los Angeles CIVIC LIGHT OPERA, illustrated numerous album covers for ANGEL, ABC, PARAMOUNT, UNITED ARTISTS and WARNER BROS. records. He also made countless contributions to a number of NFL PUBLICATIONS.

In 1978 while still doing illustration work Alain started devoting more time to landscape painting his first love. It could be said that this was his first venture into the world of fine art at the age of 38. Toward the end of this period around 1994 and after relocating to a new location in the city of Santa Monica from Thousand Oaks he decided to step away from traditional landscape painting and turned to a more minimalist form of it inspired by the Mediterranean vernacular of Spain, Italy, Greece, Morocco & Tunisia. This was the start of a small body of work that would eventually culminate in a solo show in a Santa Monica gallery. Then in 1997 his artistic focus returned to the figure concerned principally with the portrait which has always remained a constant pull. This was a major turning point in his career, a time for change not only in terms of his personal life but also to map out a new artistic vision. Reflecting on his struggle with fighting his inner demons led him to contemplate all those separations and fragmentations he had experienced throughout his life. He was then 57 and this was to become the backdrop for most of the figures (VISAGES) created during that period. The subjects chosen have been in the beginning self-portraits and later on came from random sources inspired mostly from popular culture that is to say magazines, books, film and television.

On a parallel path starting in the year 2000 an interest in computer graphics led him to experiment with BRYCE 7 PRO a 3D modeling software specializing in fractal landscape design (paintings below inspired by the great American southwest). It was in the course of rendering a simple image that he realized the potential for a new abstract painting direction he had also been searching for. This exploration inspired some new work which resulted in a series of paintings named CYBERSCAPES. It was in some ways a natural progression from the minimalist paintings he had done years before. He could not let go of a strong interest in the landscape idea and the relentless push to experiment!

alainmoreau@verizon.net