One Life, One Love, One God, 2008
Neon
Diameter 80 cm
Edition of 7

artist profile

Adel Abdessemed

born

1971

lives and works

Paris, France

education

École des Beaux-Arts d’Alger, Algiers, Algeria, 1994
École Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, France, 2000

about the artist

As part of his artistic practice, Adel Abdessemed stages “acts” and makes objects charged with ideological, sociological, metaphysical, and, ultimately, humanist concerns. A refugee of global history and world politics (he was born in Constantine, Algiers, and moved to Lyon, France, in 1994 due to political unrest), the artist has traversed cities around the world. From these places, he draws understandings of urban pasts and national memories to create arresting and, at times, uncomfortable statements on the world we inhabit. Abdessemed has held several solo exhibitions all over the world that have garnered tremendous attention, among these: Adel Abdessemed: Situation and Practice at List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA; and Adel Abdessemed: Dead or Alive at PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, USA. He was honored with a residency in the International Studio Program at New York’s MoMA PS1 Contemporary Art Center and has participated in the Istanbul, Lyon, and São Paulo biennials, as well as three editions of the Venice Biennale. 

  • Selected exhibition history
  • Permanent collections
  • Projects
  • Editions
  • Publications
  • Recent news

2012SOLO Adel Abdessemed, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

GROUP La Triennale 2012, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France

2011GROUP 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece

GROUP Seeing is believing, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany

GROUP Commercial Break, Garage Projects, as part of the 54th Venice Biennale, Italy

SOLO Adel Abdessemed: NU, Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

2010GROUP Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA

GROUP 21st Century: Art in the First Decade, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

GROUP Roundabout, City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand

SOLO Adel Abdessemed: Silent Warriors, Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London, UK

2009GROUP 10th Havana Biennial: Integration and Resistance in the Global Age, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba

GROUP 10th Lyon Biennial: Le spectacle du quotidien/The Spectacle of the Everyday, La Sucrière and Musée d'Art Contemporain, Lyon, France

SOLO Adel Abdessemed: Les ailes de dieu, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy

2008GROUP 7th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea

GROUP Traces du Sacré, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

SOLO Adel Abdessemed: Trust Me, The Common Guild, Glasgow International, Glasgow, UK

GROUP Political/Minimal, KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York; Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland

SOLO Adel Abdessemed: Situation and Practice, List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA

SOLO Adel Abdessemed: Don’t Trust Me, San Francisco Art Institute, USA

SOLO Adel Abdessemed: Drawing for Human Park, Le Magasin - Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France

2007GROUP 52nd Venice Biennale: Think with the Senses - Feel with the Mind - Art in the Present Tense, Italy

GROUP Airs de Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

GROUP 10th Istanbul Biennial: Not Only Possible, But Also Necessary: Optimism in the Age of Global War, Turkey

SOLO Adel Abdessemed: The Street Is My Heart, Liberia Borges Institute for Contemporary Art Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China

GROUP 1st Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art: Heterotopias, Greece

SOLO Adel Abdessemed: Dead or Alive, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, USA

2006GROUP Notre Histoire, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France

GROUP 27th São Paulo Biennial: Como Viver Junto/How to Live Together, São Paulo; Brazil

2005SOLO Adel Abdessemed: Happiness in Mitte, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK

2003GROUP Happiness: A Survival Guide for Art and Life, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

GROUP Blood Lines and Connections, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, USA

GROUP 50th Venice Biennale: Dreams and Conflicts - The Dictatorship of the Viewer, Italy

2002SOLO Adel Abdessemed, Institute of Visual Arts, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA

SOLO Adel Abdessemed, Centre National d’Art et du Paysage, Vassivière, France

2001GROUP Yokohama 2001: International Triennale of Contemporary Art, Japan

GROUP Uniform: Order and Disorder, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, USA

SOLO Adel Abdessemed, Project Room, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

François Pinault Foundation, Venice, Italy

Fondation Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland

Fonds régional d’art contemporain Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France

Fonds régional d’art contemporain des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France

Fundación Montenmedio Arte Contemporáneo, Vejer de la Frontera, Spain

Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel

Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France