Who is Godon ?
I don’t know why, but as soon as I met Alain Godon this sentence spoken by the fox from “The Little Prince” sprang to mind, “And now here’s my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Amazing, isn’t it? All the more so, as this is a metaphor I really should have used for an abstract, complex, “coded” work of art. Because, at a first glance, Alain’s art appears transparent, naïve, accessible and with popular appeal.
Not that there is anything wrong with that! But there is more hidden behind. If I were to tell you that in his art his paintings fight battles, you would laugh, nevertheless, this is what I believe… They are the battles of Peter Pan, of those who reject the cynicism in our world, of those who fly Prévert’s standard: “We should try to be happy, if only as an example”. Ah, so you think that’s simple? Well, open your eyes and see the world as it really is, this world of consumerism that we are told to view through a distorting lens, distorting the image as well as distorting the passive onlooker; this world which is no longer interested in the simple beauty of time passing, because time is money and, we sir, we don’t let money pass us by.
Ah, so you think that’s simple? Then go and find that child in you, the one that you have suppressed and that is fighting for its existence… that child will tell you about the love it is still seeking, the love it didn’t know how to give… it will tell you about Tinkerbell who is asleep on the window sill out in the cold and who you refuse to listen to, because you are afraid that if you open the window, you will let Captain Hook in. Well open up, don’t be afraid, listen to the voice, dare to enter a world of colour! Can you see it? Are you there? Can you see the colours? Can you feel the movement? Well, welcome to the world of Alain Godon, this place is special, precious and the reserve of those initiates who speak the language of the heart, who have dropped their defences, their pretensions and who are no longer afraid to talk about love, no longer afraid of being loved. You might meet Alain when wandering around “Extravaganza”… You will of course recognise him: he is the one dressed as d’Artagnan ready to lead new battles and, he is even more vibrant in the flesh than the world of his pictures.
Tell him that my galleries are his envoys and that I am here waiting for him to come to Luxembourg on some new adventure, and tomorrow… it will be the four corners of the world.
Jean Pierre CORBEL