A formal sculpture show
Bortolami is pleased to present the second solo show by Michel François at the
gallery. For this exhibition, François proposes a formal sculpture show. Set up
like a series of architectonic elements that appear to be relics, the sculptures show
grandness in form, but at the same time seem almost at the point of collapsing.
The austerity of the group of works is threatened by the fragile stability of the
materials. François questions the internal or external forces that push the objects
into a possible dissolution.
Dipping ordinary things, such as nets, into plaster to make them rigid, Francois
juxtaposes the crumpled form with a skeletal one to produce tensions in the
sculptures. He then finishes them with mediums such as gold leaf, polystyrene
balls, fluorescent or metallic paint. Other works use glass, a material often
employed by François in the past. Adding emphasis to the rigid versus collapsed
form, François incorporates a new video of juggling glasses and posters with
images of tumbling objects.
Michel François was born in 1956 in Saint-Trond, Belgium. Upcoming Solo
exhibitions include MC Project, Los Angeles and Thomas Dane, London. Past Solo
exhibitions include Frac Haute-Normandie, Rouen; Frac Aquitaine, Bordeaux,
France; CCStrombeek, Belgium; Maison de la culture d’Amiens, France; Art Pace
Foundation, San Antonio, Texas; De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art, Tilburg,
The Netherlands; Space Vox, Montreal; CCA Kitakyushu, Japan; Westfalischer
Kunstverein, Munster, Germany; Centre George Pompidou, Paris; Center for
Photography, Geneva, Switzerland and Fondatión Miró, Barcelona, Kunsthalle
Bern, and Haus der Kunst, Munich. François’s work has also been included in
numerous group exhibitions such as, “Recent Video from Belgium,“ Philadelphia
Museum of Art, The 49th Venice Biennale – where he represented Belgium together
with Ann Veronica Janssen, the São Paolo Biennal XXII, and Documenta IX. The
artist currently lives and works in Brussels.
For more information please contact Nicole Will at Nicole@bortolamigallery.com.
Image: Untitled (double structure) , 2007-8, plaster, flourescent paint, 39 x 15 inches each
Opening 25th February h 6-8
Bortolami
510 West 25th Street New York
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10am to 6pm