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Monograph

Power to Act

Adel Abdessemed


publisher·sJRP Ringier, Zürich

co-publisher(s)La Criée centre for contemporary art, Rennes
Christine Koenig Gallery, Vienne
Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv
BFAS - Blondeau Fine Arts Service, Genève
Zwirner, New York

author·sLarys Frogier

technical characteristics23,8 x 28,6 cm
160 pages
english
160 pictures color, 37 pictures black and white

ISBN978-3-03764-109-5

price40 €

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Artist Adel Abdessemed refuses to be limited to a single ideology or medium—he works across video, animation, performance, and sculptural installation. In his early works he passionately tackled religious, sexual, and taboos subjects and his later exhibitions have often focused on the theme of global violence. In an interview with Elisabeth Lebovici he stated, “I do not live between two cultures. I am not a postcolonial artist. I am not working on the scar and am not mending anything. I am just a detector … In the public sphere, I use passion and rage. Nothing else. I don’t do illusions.”

Sometimes reduced to a simple word, as in MohammedKarlpolpot (1999), a condensation of names evoking totalitarism and religion, and sometimes complex and monumental installations such as Habibi (2004), a suspended skeleton of 17 meters propelled by a jet engine, Abdessemed’s practice belongs to a new generation of artists who appeared recently on the French art scene, looking to offer another perspective on culture and identity.

Organized around an extensive essay by Larys Frogier, this monograph offers an overview of his work. It is published with La Criée, Rennes.

Adel Abdessemed (born in Constantine, Algeria, 1971) attended the Fine Arts School in Batna, Algeria, and the École Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Algiers. In 1992, a military coup toppled the Algerian government and, in 1994, he left the country for France, where he enrolled at the École nationale des beaux arts in Lyon. In 1999, Abdessemed moved to Paris where he lived in the Cité des Arts and began to exhibit his work. He was awarded a residency at P.S.1 in New York in 2000–2001. He lived for a time in Berlin, but has resided in Paris since 2004. Abdessemed’s solo exhibitions include Le Plateau in Paris, Le Magasin in Grenoble, and P.S.1 in New York. His work has been widely exhibited in international manifestations such as the Lyon Biennale, the Venice Biennale, and the Palais de Tokyo, Paris.



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Produced works

Adel Abdessemed

  • Pluie noire, 2006
  • Zen, 2000
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Monograph

À l’attaque

Adel Abdessemed

2007

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Postcard

Father

Adel Abdessemed

2002

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Exhibition

Practice Zero Tolerance

Adel Abdessemed

from 30 June to 27 August 2006

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Artist's book

The Green Book

Adel Abdessemed

2002

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Exhibition

Juste au corps

Adel Abdessemed, Micha Derrider, Mickaël Phelippeau, Rui Chafes, Maëve Dupuis, Maria Hahnenkamp, Natacha Lesueyr, Philippe Meste and Nicola

from 16 June to 2 September 2000