The works by Francois are spatial and complex, using numerous objects in his installations to create a space of reflection and self-awareness. Many of the artist’s installations may seem bizarre and contradictory at first: a pay phone booth with a pile of old useless change next to it; a papier-mâché punching bag; or plaster casts of the inside of the pockets in his trousers to see what it looks like. However, it is such curiosity and peculiar view of reality that stops the viewer in his or her tracks to consider how objects and actions relate to each other - and how many everyday social constructions formed without any meaningful reflection.
The installation ‘Bureau Augmenté’ (‘Expanded Office’), exhibited in Paris, Berlin and Musée de Charleroi in the late nineties, brought together many of Francois’ themes and disciplines of sculpture, space and social constructs. Inside a room the artist assembled a chaotic office filled with ringing toy telephones, fax machines, bright computer monitors and flickering fluorescent lights; loose wires were hanging from the ceiling; letters fixed to the walls; and paper, days-old newspapers and expired coins were piled and scattered on the floor. In short, the corporate office of nightmares.
Far away from normal office, but not far from bureaucracy, was an earlier work: ‘Manure, Nettels and Dandelions’ (original title ‘Mest, Brandnetels en Paardebloemen’) - a project for a permanent installation at the De Kivelanden Detention Clinic in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Related to Francois’ philosophical thoughts on work and play in ‘Bureau Augmenté’, the installation in Rotterdam reveals Francois’ reflections on freedom and captivity. Apart from the 1:1 floor plan of a cell outlined on the gallery floor and other pieces exhibited, a thought-provoking part of the exhibition included a few glass cases containing cultivated dandelions, also known as ‘Pissenlits’ in French. Inside, the dandelions were carefully placed in individual grow pots, socially distanced to others - and on the outside of the vitrine, a clear instruction was affixed describing how and when to water them. These plants - considered weeds and normally overlooked - served as a symbolic reminder of a part of society that is kept nurtured yet restricted in their growth, while at the same time commenting on rehabilitation and transformation.
Francois observes the world, create visual reports, and exhibits his findings. The thoughts and emotions, inward-looking scrutiny, and unsolved dilemmas in society, he leaves to the spectator.
The artist’s mixture of techniques and media - covering installation, video, sculpture and photography - have been widely exhibited since his debut in Bruxelles in 1980. After
Michel Francois’ first museum show in 1989, more than one hundred solo shows followed as well as several inclusions in group exhibitions and events in the art calendar. In 1999, the artist was selected for the Belgian Pavilion at the 48th Venice Biennale. Francois lives and works in Bruxelles, Belgium.
J. Aux Pissenlits and
Transport de Pissenlits, representing a part of
Michel Francois collaborative project ‘Manure, Nettels and Dandelions’ (1997), were released as Chromogenic editions in a collaboration between the artist and Eyestorm in 1999.