ALF

ALF is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on September 22, 1986. Its protagonist is Gordon Shumway, an extraterrestrial from the planet Melmac who crashes his spaceship into the garage of the Tanner family in California. Nicknamed ALF, short for Alien Life Form, the character becomes part of domestic life while the family tries to hide him from the authorities. Performed through a puppet voiced by Paul Fusco, ALF turned an extraterrestrial visitor into the protagonist of familiar, everyday situations. The series remained on air until 1990 and became one of its decade’s television touchstones.

In the watercolor, the familiar television figure is presented as a small portrait, with its raised hand extending beyond the circular field. The image carries the material character of a puppet as well as the memory of a broadcast presence. Translating it into watercolor places a widely reproduced popular image within the intimate scale and sustained observation of the series.