Alexis Debeuf, born in Tours (France), currently living and working in Caen (Lower Normandy, France). Master of fine Arts at École supérieure d’arts et medias in Caen, France. Alexis Debeuf reacts artistically to the world that surrounds him. He draws its inspiration in daily activities and popular culture. Fan of burlesque cinema and old cartoons, Alexis likes to use humor and absurd in his work to question our relationship to our environments and contexts: objects, architecture, behaviors, language, social, political…
He uses different mediums like video, public intervention, print or objects hacking. Alexis plays with what he sees around him and around us. He turns and puts things in unusual situations, he tries to cause a shift in the perception that we have of objects to make them say something else. Not too sophisticated technology, it creates with what he has and develops a homemade art. As a “citizen artist”, his work is inseparable of his daily life.
During his residency in Macedonia he will be based in Bitola (31 July – 16 August) where he will create a new work. The residency will be realised in the National Institution Cultural Centre Bitola in the frame of AKTO – International Festival for Contemporary Arts. His work will be exhibited at the AKTO festival (22 – 24 August). Alexis Debeuf will present a series of drawings, sculptures, photographs inspired among other, by the monuments and buildings he has seen in Skopje. For this work, he is interested in ongoing relations of architecture to time, politics and image.
Besides his residency stay in Bitola, with an aim to become more familiar with the cultural and artistic scene in Macedonia, Lokomotiva has organised a meetings with local artists and visit of other local artistic scenes in the country. In this part of the residency programme:
- He spent 2 days in Skopje (23, 24 July) during which he had meetings and become familiar with the work of Lokomotiva, the Regional office for the Decentralised Cooperation programme in Skopje, French Institute in Skopje, visual artists and artistic initiatives from Skopje.
- He was a guest artist at the ДРИМON – Festival for processing culture, organized in Struga by the Initiative for independent cultural activism – INKA (25 – 27 July). During his stay in Struga Alexis had opportunity to meet other artists that were presented at the festival, to be familiar with the work of INKA and with the local cultural context. He was also a guest artist that presented his work in the frame of the festival.
- He also visited the city of Gevgelija (29, 30 July) where he was host by Mile Nicevski – director of the House of Culture in this city. During his stay he had possibility to meet local artists and be familiar with the concept and programme of the Multimedia Art Festival – BOSH, which happens each year in Gevgelija in the moth of August.