Michel François

Born in 1956 in Sint-Truiden (Belgium), MICHEL FRANÇOIS lives and works between Brussels (Belgium) and Paris (France). François’s interest lies in exploring a variety of media including installation, video, sculpture and photography, often combined and linked to create a larger idea. Through these various techniques and materials, François comments on the relationships and contradictions that we face in our public and private lives. Some are more formal such as convex versus concave forms, the connection between the external and the internal, light versus dark. Others focus on political “truths” versus deception and/or manipulation. Central to the artist’s work is the reconsideration of simple known images, objects or banal iconography. Kamel Mennour and Michel François have been working together since 2011.

His work has been shown in numerous solo exhibitions at Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, CRAC in Sète, CCC in Tours, IAC in Villeurbanne, SMAK in Gand, Mac’ of Grand Hornu, De Pont Museum in Tilburg, CCA in Kitakyushu; Vox in Montreal; Gulbenkian Museum in Lisboa; Kunstverein in Münster; Kunsthalle in Bern; Haus der Kunst in Munich; Witte de With in Rotterdam; Miró Foundation in Barcelona; Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels; as well as group exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, at documenta IX, at the Venice Biennale in 1999, the Mamco in Geneva, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, at Casino and Mudam in Luxembourg as well as in different biennales as in Istanbul, Seoul and Johannesburg.

Works

Exhibition view, Bozar, Brussels - © Mennour
Exhibition view, Bozar, Brussels, 2023
Exhibition view, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne - © Mennour
Exhibition view, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, 2023
Exhibition view, Halle Verrière, Meisenthal - © Mennour
Exhibition view, Halle Verrière, Meisenthal, 2021
Exhibition view, YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, Baku - © Mennour
Exhibition view, YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, 2022
Instant Gratification - © Mennour
Instant Gratification, 2011
Exhibition view, Halle Verrière, Meisenthal - © Mennour
Exhibition view, Halle Verrière, Meisenthal, 2021
Martyr - © Mennour
Martyr, 2017
Sans titre 7 - © Mennour
Sans titre 7, 2015
Instant Gratification (chips tree on wood) - © Mennour
Instant Gratification (chips tree on wood), 2016
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2014
Souffles dans le verre (noir) - © Mennour
Souffles dans le verre (noir), 2006
Exhibition view, De Pont Museum, Tilburg - © Mennour
Exhibition view, De Pont Museum, Tilburg, 2004
Froissé - © Mennour
Froissé, 2012
Contigu - © Mennour
Contigu, 2010
Exhibition view, Crac Sète - © Mennour
Exhibition view, Crac Sète, 2012
Installation view, Golden Cage, Art Unlimited, Art Basel - © Mennour
Installation view, Golden Cage, Art Unlimited, Art Basel, 2008
Peanuts - © Mennour
Peanuts, 2013
Souffle dans le verre - © Mennour
Souffle dans le verre, 2016
Exhibition view, La Verrière, Fondation d'entreprise Hermès, Brussels - © Mennour
Exhibition view, La Verrière, Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, Brussels, 2015
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2016
Sans titre 3 - © Mennour
Sans titre 3, 2014
Contamination - © Mennour
Contamination, 2012
Permanent installation, Lieu-dit, Lormont - © Mennour
Permanent installation, Lieu-dit, Lormont, 2006
Sans Titre (Tâches de plâtre assemblées) - © Mennour
Sans Titre (Tâches de plâtre assemblées), 2010
Sans titre 6 - © Mennour
Sans titre 6, 2015
Exhibition view, S.M.A.K., Ghent - © Mennour
Exhibition view, S.M.A.K., Ghent, 2009
Instant Gratification 5 - © Mennour
Instant Gratification 5, 2016
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2014
Le monde et les bras - © Mennour
Le monde et les bras, 1996
Infini - © Mennour
Infini, 2016
Exhibition view, S.M.A.K., Ghent - © Mennour
Exhibition view, S.M.A.K., Ghent, 2009
Sans titre 4 - © Mennour
Sans titre 4, 2014
Exhibition view, CCCOD, Tours - © Mennour
Exhibition view, CCCOD, Tours, 2011
Soufflés dans le verre - Transparent - © Mennour
Soufflés dans le verre - Transparent, 2002
Sculpture à l’aveugle (wall) - © Mennour
Sculpture à l’aveugle (wall), 2015
Enroulement 2 - © Mennour
Enroulement 2, 2016
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2011
Scribble - © Mennour
Scribble, 2011
Exhibition view, WIELS, Brussels - © Mennour
Exhibition view, WIELS, Brussels, 2017
Contamination line - © Mennour
Contamination line, 2017
Exhibition view, Casa Wabi, Puerto Escondido - © Mennour
Exhibition view, Casa Wabi, Puerto Escondido, 2015
Souffles dans le verre (argenté) - © Mennour
Souffles dans le verre (argenté), 2006
Ink Revenge (Octopus) - © Mennour
Ink Revenge (Octopus), 2000—2013
Exhibition view, CCA Kitakyushu - © Mennour
Exhibition view, CCA Kitakyushu, 2003
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2014
Sans titre - © Mennour
Sans titre, 2005
Instant Gratification 3 - © Mennour
Instant Gratification 3, 2012
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2011
Enroulement - © Mennour
Enroulement, 2010
Exhibition view, Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Rennes - © Mennour
Exhibition view, Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Rennes, 2016
Exhibition view, CRAC Sète - © Mennour
Exhibition view, CRAC Sète, 2012
Scribble 2 - © Mennour
Scribble 2, 2011
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2016
Sans titre 5 - © Mennour
Sans titre 5, 2010
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2011
Instant Gratification 2 - © Mennour
Instant Gratification 2, 2012
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2011
Sans titre 2 - © Mennour
Sans titre 2, 2011
Bois martyrs - © Mennour
Bois martyrs, 2017
Instant Gratification 4 - © Mennour
Instant Gratification 4, 2016
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris - © Mennour
Exhibition view, kamel mennour, Paris, 2011
Enroulement coloré - © Mennour
Enroulement coloré, 2016

Exhibitions & News

Bertrand Lavier - Monnaie de Paris - © Mennour
Michel François, Ann Veronica Janssens, Bertrand Lavier, L’Argent dans l’Art
30 March — 24 September 2023
Monnaie de Paris
Michel François - Bozar Bruxelles - © Mennour
Michel François, Contre nature
16 March — 21 July 2023
Bozar Brussels
Michel François - Cc Strombeek - © Mennour
Michel François, Under a Cloud
10 October 2021 — 9 October 2022
Prinsenbos Grimbergen
Michel François - YARAT Contemporary Art Space - © Mennour
Michel François, Panopticon
17 March — 4 October 2022
YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku
Michel François - Conflans-Sainte-Honorine - © Mennour
Michel François, Des éclats
2 July 2021 — 30 June 2022
Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
AVJ & Michel François - © Mennour
Michel François, Ann Veronica Janssens, Book launch
23 June 2022
Palais de Tokyo, Paris
Michel François - Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts - © Mennour
Michel François, Résister, encore
18 February — 15 May 2022
Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne
Michel François - Espace d’art François Auguste Ducros - © Mennour
Michel François, Danièle Orcier, Les lignes du désir
19 May — 31 October 2021
Espace d’art François-Auguste Ducros, Grignan
Michel François - Château d'Oiron - © Mennour
Michel François, Bertrand Lavier, Pierre Molinier, Grand bazar - choix de Jean-Hubert Martin dans la collection Antoine de Galbert
27 June — 3 October 2021
Château d'Oiron
Michel François & Ugo Rondinone - Lustwarande - © Mennour
Michel François, Ugo Rondinone, Stations
3 July — 3 October 2021
Lustwarande - Platform for Contemporary Sculpture, Tilburg
Michel François - Halle Verrière - © Mennour
Michel François, Panoptique
3 July — 19 September 2021
Halle Verrière, Meisenthal
Le noir et blanc dans la Collection Pinault - © Mennour
Michel François, Bertrand Lavier, François Morellet, Au-delà de la couleur, le noir et blanc dans la Collection Pinault
12 June — 29 August 2021
Couvent des Jacobins, Rennes
Centre Pompidou Shanghai - © Mennour
Daniel Buren, Michel François, Alberto Giacometti, Lee Ufan, François Morellet, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Zineb Sedira, Shen Yuan, The Shape of Time
8 November 2019 — 9 May 2021
Centre Pompidou × West Bund Museum Project, Shanghai

Media

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