The Power to Act

Reference monograph

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.

French edition (ISBN 978-3-03764-109-5) only available by les presses du réel. Limited stock.