Adel Abdessemed by Julie Abdessemed:
1971 born in Constantine, Algeria, the third child, after Malek and Samira, of Nafissa and Essaïd; childhood in Batna, in Aurès
1976 witnesses the birth of his twin sister and brother, Sabrina and Issam
1980 meets Cherif Merzougui, starts of a close friendship
1986 attends Fine Art School in Batna; Adel paints his
Trois passions; trips in Aurès and in the desert
1988 first show at Batna with his childhood friend, Allam Amar
5 October
1988 popular rising in Algiers, a deep shock for Adel
1989 At Oran, he buys a book on Rembrandt, a real shock... 1990 Fine Arts in Algiers; Allam, Hacene, Halim
1992 Cherif dies in his arms; President Boudiaf assassinated; fresh spate of massacres
1994 M. Hassela, head of Algiers Fine Art School, and his son Rabbah murdered on the school premises
9 September 1994 Adel arrives in Lyons as an emergency measure: Thanks to Henri Lemasne, Colette and Françoise, René and Jean-Pierre; Fine Art School to avoid going underground; Adel produces his first video
Ombre et Lumière; catches up with Halim, who had arrived two years earlier; lives for two years at Vaulx-en-Velin
1995 brief stay in Algeria
September 1996 invited by
Niek van de Steeg for a month at Villa Medicis; is unable to go back home for his sister Sabrina's wedding; Adel produces his neon piece Exil; meets the
Joueur de flûte (Flautist) Bourdim Messouad, trance...
late 1996 Bar de l'Antidote, Adel and me... In our tiny apartment in the Rue du Port du Temple, on a green curtain, Adel writes with a cigarette:
Nuit de noces and makes his first postcard
February 1997 leaves for Algeria to see his family, our nephews Najib and Ala, before deserting; clash with my family
July 1997 our wedding in the presence of René, Jean-Pierre and Halim
September 1997 trip to Greece: Oia, Santorini, sublime, Adel gives me my first taste of prickly pears; we move house to the Rue St-Jean
November 1997 Adel teaches me to work with him; video
Passé simple in the Bar de la Détente
1998 party at Anissa Hassela's with Tarik and Myriam in Paris;
Khemsa at Josselyne Naef's; Lyons over and done with
1999 we live at the Cité des Arts in Paris, Mme Brunau, fine view over the Seine; we tell my family we have got married; Allam is dead; Guy has left us a small caterpillar, we watch the butterfly hatch; thanks to Chourouk's kindness, Adel produces
Chrysalide and I do the filming
2000 Death of Anissa;
Manifesta 3 in Ljubljana: Adel shows his positive monster
Mohammed-Karlpolpot; conversations with Georges Lapassade; after thinking up
OUI, videos
Double fond et Julie and
ZEN; encounter with Larys and Jean-Luc, show at La Criée in Rennes; no visa for Adel's parents, we meet them in Tunisia, we see Hacene at Sidi Bou Saïd
September 2000 New-York Workshop at P.S.1, Adel's first residence, a fine view, lots of light, outrage; invited by Evelyne Jouanno and Hou Hanru at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, he shows his cannabis star, more outrage
2001 Adel's first publication:
Question nary, we travel around a lot, Japan, California; interview with Sislej Xhafa and Massimiliano Gioni at
Flash Art; after 4 and a half years, Adel goes home to Algeria, my first time; Adel sees Hacene again, “Hacene n'a pas de chance”; time in Europe, the
Adel has resigned piece is produced at Watou and Yokohama, more outrage
After 9/11 we thought about our baby
2002 Berlin; Ksu is born...
Jimmie Durham chooses to be Ksu's godfather... in Berlin, Adel borrowed the indigo public pond opposite our home which has become his studio, he wants to turn it into a vast Dionysiac fountain... a great deal of wine consumed with
Jimmie and Maria-Thereza; and the video
Pressoir, fais-le came...
The Green Book and show at Vassivière with Guy Tortosa...
2003 Real Time produced in Milan, at the Laura Pecci Gallery, Lise Guéhenneux joins us; with Hanru at the Venice Biennale; video
Happiness in Mitte, the seven cats lapping up milk; show at the Mori Museum, Tokyo, with Pier Luigi Tazzi; Adel invites Jean-Marc Ballée to work with him on his book
Adel Abdessemed Global
2004 François Quintin's mother has passed away, the skeleton
Habibi is shown at
Frac Champagne-Ardenne with François and at
Mamco in Geneva, where it ends up for good... but sparks another controversy
late 2004 Berlin is over with
Tschüss, back to Paris, show in Shanghai; Elle dances in my tummy
2005 Adel borrows the pavement in the Rue Lemercier and does
Mes amis, the first photo in the street series; his book
Global is published; Elle born; another encounter with
Kamel Mennour whose portrait Adel does in the street as a
Pickpocket...
Holidays – God Is Infinity show at the gallery with the works
Spirit done in terracotta,
Foot On,
Ocean View,
Travaux. Adel invites Silvia Ocougne to compose the music for his
God Is Design video...
Mircea Cantor writes a text about the show, turned down by a review; following a phone conversation with Nafissa: the folded and rolled aeroplane
Bourek... Adel throws the camera over Berlin with
Schnell
2006 photos: the snake of
Zero Tolerance;
Sept frères with wild boars... off for a few days to New York; then shows in Dakar, Sao Paulo, Càdiz, after Tarifa and Tangiers Adel does
Salam Europe... Adel prepares his new book
À l'attaque: conversation with Elisabeth Lebovici, Jean de Loisy suggests Philippe-Alain Michaud to him to write something, Adel is delighted...
Séparation with the lion...
Practice Zero Tolerance show at La Criée with Larys Frogier, and at Le Plateau with Caroline Bourgeois,
Black House held up... Visit from his parents in November, he closes the studio with the photo of his mother Nafissa;
Sikhah show in Tel-Aviv at the Dvir Gallery, with Dvir Intrator, whose video portait he makes, Shifra Shalit and Ami Barak;
Jimmie and Maria-Thereza draw a book for Ksu
2007 interview with
Daniel Buren published in Journal des Arts, Adel has repainted his Dazibao wall red but is unable to live with it so he paints it yellow with the first inscription: “mort ou vif”
