Born in 1956 in Saint-Trond (Belgium)
Lives and works in Brussels

At the heart of Michel François’ practice lies a meditation on the complexity of life in all its forms. Through sculpture, installation, video and photography, the artist reveals the vitality hidden at the heart of the apparent inertia of things. Materials seem to come alive in her hands, while retaining their capacity to transform themselves according to their own internal logic. The union of the biological and the synthetic gives rise to singular combinations, leading to a play of mimicry between materials and their environments, beyond their symbolism. Immaculate exhibition spaces are transformed into potential stage spaces. The influence of the Arte Povera movement infuses his use of these seemingly banal, recycled materials, caught up in physical and conceptual transactions. By capturing the fragile balance that emerges from the tension between lightness and density, accumulation and disappearance, Michel François attempts to capture the versatility of things and their value. These bodies, both metaphors and materials, shape a poetry of matter through which the world is contemplated with renewed eyes.

Michel François took part in Documenta IX in Kassel in 1992. He represented Belgium at the Venice Biennale in 1999 with Ann Veronica Janssens – curated by Laurent Jacob – and at the São Paulo Biennale in 1994. He has taken part in biennales in Rennes, Istanbul, Seoul and Shanghai. Solo exhibitions include “Contre Nature” at Bozar (Brussels, 2023), “Panopticon” at YARAT (Baku, 2022), “Tiera Vaga” with Harold Ancart at Fondation Casa Wabi (Puerto Escondido, 2016), “Quarante-cinq mille affiches” at Mac’s (Grand Hornu, 2016), “Philaetchouri” with Ann Veronica Janssens – curated by Guillaume Désanges – at La Verrière (Brussels, 2015), “Pièces à conviction” at CRAC Languedoc Roussillon (Sète, 2012), “Plans d’évasion” at SMAK (Gent, 2009) and IAC (Villeurbanne, 2010), “La Ricarda” at Macba (Barcelona, 2009), “Hespérides” at Musée des Beaux-Arts (Lausanne, 2009), “Déjà vu” Musée de Pont (Tilburg, 2004), Art Pace Foundation (San Antonio, Texas, 2004), “Michel François” at the Westfälischer Kunstverein (Münster, 2003), “Salon intermédiaire” at the Centre Pompidou, (Paris, 2002), “Psycho jardin”, Joan-Miró Foundation (Barcelona, 2001), “La plante en nous” at the Kunsthalle
(Bern, 2000) and at the Haus der Kunst (Munich, 2000) and “L’Exposition, la boutique
et le bureau” at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (Charleroi, 1999).

He has developed numerous artistic and curatorial projects, including “La Ricarda” with Jean Paul Jacquet in 2006, and “Une exposition universelle” with Guillaume Désanges in 2013. He has directed numerous films and created the theatrical play “Take the floor” with Léone François, for the Kuntenfestivaldesarts in 2015. He has also collaborated regularly with choreographers Pierre Droulers (“Mountain, Fountain” in 1995, “Flowers” in 2007, “Walk Talk Chalk” in 2010, ) and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (“The song” in 2009, “En atendant” 2010, “Exit Above” in 2023).

http://www.xavierhufkens.com/artists/?artist_intro=Michel_Francois