Retenue d’eau Water retainment), 1999-2022
- Medium: plastic, water, nylon, aluminium – unique work
- Size: variable dimension
Michel François is constantly searching for the beauty of experience. With a cluster of hundreds of bags of water, this work seems to refer to the present time of climate change, pollution and waste, in which water is no longer as common as we think. In his work, François explicitly examines the relationship between work and space, between image and architecture. In François’ hands, everyday materials acquire monumental proportions.
THE ARTIST: Michel François
Michel François (b. 1956, Saint-Trond, Belgium) lives and works in Brussels. He represented Belgium with this work at the Venice Biennale with Ann Veronica Janssens.
Michel François claims no signature style. Instead, he creates a web of shifting connections between his works and each different exhibition. His conceptual practice includes sculpture, video, photography, printed matter, painting and installation work. The titles of his solo exhi-bitions often point to his interest in contemporary reality, offices, domestic environments, surveillance, psychology and the police state.