JEAN-MICHEL ALBÉROLA

Born 1953 in Saida, Algeria

For Alberola, cultural interrelations are at the centre of his endeavours.

In his early work he explores the double morality of mythological themes, depending on whether the subject are a God or a mortal. Like Klossowski in "Le Bain de Diane" he also concludes that the Goddess actually wanted to reveal herself to the huntsman Acteon while she was bathing - it would therefore be wrong to punish him with death for having seen her. For years Alberola signed "A(cteon) fecit".

A further example is Alberola's cycle on the painting "The Stone Breakers" (about 1849) by Gustave Courbet. Courbet is in the foreground because he is occupied with the same intellectual conflict; how can he, as an artist, depict modern developments which are the downfall of those individuals who inhabit the periphery of civic existence?

Alberola is deeply impressed by Courbet's decision to portray quite everyday behaviour as precisely as possible, therefore placing destinies which had previously not been thought worth mentioning in the focal point of the observation. It is no wonder that Courbet's "The Stone Breakers" was acquired by the Dresden Art Gallery under general approval and very highly regarded in Germany, despite Franco-German resentment following the war of 1870/71.

The popular painting is presumed to have been destroyed by fire during the great bombing raid on Dresden on 13th February 1945. Since then no trace of it has been found. Alberola's cycle on Courbet's "Les Casseurs de Pierres" represents more than the recreation of a lost painting. It reflects the solidarity of culturally engaged people, which defies frontiers and is of special benefit to those who exist on the periphery.

In this sense the conflict facing Walter Benjamin is that which confronts Alberola today - in his paintings he makes Walter Benjamin's words visible: "The further away one is from the centre, the more political things become." These reflections continue as well in his latest works on the theme of homeless people.He uses old police photos of ruscals, who became criminals in Swizzerland, because they were foreigners to describe their lives in retrospect. Many other images are joined to these photos so that we all are able to reflect upon there lives and similar lives today.