ALIGNA
Born February 26, 1957 in Ban Kang, Laos.
Self taught sculptor, painter and musician.
Aligna arrived in France at the age of 17, having attended the French Lycee Vientiane. In 1979, he obtained his level 4 technical draftman degree, then started working in a large architects’ office in Paris.
One day, two friends asked him to joint them playing music in the Metro after work, so he did, and discovered that he could make far more money busking than working at the office! He quit and moved to the country to develop his music with his friends. Together with his family he bought a big farmhouse to renovate in a small village called Chars in the Val d'Oise near Paris.
Looking for pieces for his house in the local scrap yard, the discarded elements of our consumer society caught his artistic eye. He asked a welder friend to show him how to weld and he thus began the magical transformation of junk into beauty that is his art.
Meanwhile, his musician friends were on the move and off abroad, so Aligna stayed in Chars to devote his time to his art. However, as one cannot live on passion alone, he was obliged to earn his living in other creative ways too, and did so very successfully as a chef, then as a decorator and set designer for cinema and the circus.
He has collaborated with other remarkable artists, notably with the sculptor Daniel Pestel, with the great master of color Yves Charnay as well as with the brilliant grand "électromécanomaniaque" Gilbert Peyre. Following a commission from stylist Montana to create a work for an event"Le NOEL des CREATEURS " en 2003, Aligna began working on a series of flowers made from old oil barrels and nails. These blooms continue to occur wherever he goes, in the Hudson Valley New York, to Venice and on to Patagonia.
ONE MAN SHOWS :
2007: Sculptures at Yao SOUKA, Paris, France
2006: Installation "Flowers" at Museo del Parco - Portofino, Italy
2005 : Paintings shown in store " Au Tour Du Feu ", Paris 18è, France
1990 : Paintings shown at Chinese Cultural Center, Paris 13è, France
1989 : Paintings shown at VAL RAY and ARTE MODERNO,Mexico
GROUP SHOWS :
2006: International Sculptures Exhibition "Open", Lido, Venice, Italy
2005 : " 60 ans - 60 urnes " Nuit blanche " Town Hall, Paris 9ème, France
" 60 ans - 60 urnes " Town Hall, Gennevillier, France
2003 : " 2ème Rencontres du pré de l'âne ",Cucugnan, Hautes Corbières, France
2002 : "Rencontres du pré de l'âne ", Soulatge, Hautes Corbières, France
2000 : Sculpture symposium " LE VENT des FORETS ", Meuse, France
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