Acquired from the artist by the previous owner; Sale: Christie’s, Paris, Art d‘Après-Guerre et Contemporain, December 10, 2008, lot 262; Private collection, Belgium (acquired from the above)
Catalogue Essay
I do not live between two cultures. I am not a post-colonial 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.
-Adel Abdessemed
(E. Lebovici, “Adel Abdessemed en/in Conversation avec/with Elisabeth Lebovici,” À L’attaque: Adel Abdessemed, Zurich, 2007, p. 111)
1996 Ladder and neon. 80 3/4 x 78 3/4 x 3 in. (205.1 x 200 x 7.6 cm). Signed, titled and dated “'ADEL ABDESSEMED ‘Le mythe de Sisyphe’ 1996 Lyon” on the ladder.