Michel François' Théâtre des opérations Adapts to Each Venue

Michel François' ongoing series of exhibitions titled Théâtre des opérations functions as a global work that evolves and adapts to its host venues, from a photography center to a former port warehouse. The Belgian artist revisits his oeuvre through recurring elements, blending genres and disciplines while repurposing objects and materials. The pieces remain independent yet interact paradoxically within an open plan, treating the exhibition itself as a complete artwork that parasitizes its surroundings. François explores the relationship between reality and fiction via cinema and television, using stage props like projectors and studio replicas to create absurd theatricality without overt critique. In the Bordeaux iteration at Frac Aquitaine, the show includes 36 Posters on Display, a collaboration with Richard Venlet featuring twenty-one galvanized steel panels mounted on tripods, displaying photographic posters recto-verso with rows of white neon lights. Another piece, Psychojardin, is a variable environment consisting of a sand rectangle bordered by raw wood flooring and empty wine bottles, featuring a black eagle made of ice and India ink that melts over time, thematizing market value and the passage of time. The exhibition traveled to multiple venues: Centre photographique d'Ile-de-France, Maison de la culture d'Amiens, Hangar G2 at Frac Aquitaine in Bordeaux, and finally Frac Haute-Normandie in Sotteville-lès-Rouen (October 15 – December 11, 2005).