Lahlou, Mehdi-Georges (FR)

crox 369,
CONSTRUCTION CUBIQUE ou de la pensée confuse.

Inge Braeckman (H-art
82, p. 16): CONCEPTUAL PERFORMANCES IN CROXHAPOX. 'The main work of
Mehdi-Georges Lahlou is a black box which visitors can enter and showing a
picture of four women in burkas. Furthermore he shows a series of framed
variations on the theme of Madonna with child. Lahlous work is about infringing
borders, cultural as well as religious. As a child he was raised in bot a
muslim and a christian environment and this mix of religions resurfaces time
and again in his work.'

Opening night Saturday
7 May 2011. Quite a large audience for the performance of Mehdi-Georges Lahlou
outside in the yard. The other projects, gathered round the project of Lahlou,
are the Art Crematorium [Kunstkrematorium], presented by Berlin gallerist Julie
August, a project by Bob Van de Putte in the cube space and a translation
project by Daniël Dewaele.

Lahlou has been
varying on the stiletto heel performance, once he walked for some time the
Vrijdagmarkt in Ghent on pink stiletto heels, Place Machau par excellence. In
Paris too. It wasn't filmed. The plan was to walk on stiletto heels from a
certain spot in Paris to the galery where he was exhibiting. That plan suddenly
changed when he crossed a boulevard where a lot of Arabs hung out. They went
after him. It turned into a race, he had to take off his stilettos and crossed
the line first, barefoot. In Anderlecht there was some turmoil about an
installation window of Mehdi-Georges Lahlou, probably that is the reason why
his prayer mats have become his most talked of and reknowned works. He had put
a pair of pink stiletto heels on these prayer mats. Reason enough for the local
fundis to go berserk.

He is represented by
Transit in Mechelen, where Stijn Van Dorpe, Luc Dondeyne and Wouter Feyaerts
also found a home.