Exhibition «Mustapha Boutadjine - Collage Résistant(s)»

The works on display, large-format collages made from scraps of paper torn from magazines, represent women and men who fought for freedom, justice, dignity... who resisted. They come from the seven major series created by the artist, who works by theme: America basta, Black is always beautiful, Femmes d’Alger (Women of Algiers), Insurgés (Insurgents), Poètes (Poets), Sous les pavés le Gitan (Beneath the paving stones lies the Gypsy), Contre-images (Counter-Images).

“Resistant with a capital R, says the artist. Because the Resistant is independent, unique, singular. The plural S means that there are several resistances: poetic, literary, sporting, artistic, political of course.”

A work that is more topical than ever: “Today, says Boutadjine, there are new forms of resistance. Here in France, the poor have no choice, but they try to resist. They are the common people. Neighbors, passers-by, people I don’t know who find themselves in these portraits. They are attacked daily by the media, lies, unemployment. Everyone resists in their own way. I made the portrait of strangers. I try to put strangers with known people to say that everywhere people are resisting. "