Each of Abdessemed’s ‘Cocorico Paintings’ is an assemblage of strips of recycled metal made by North African craftsmen.

Brightly-coloured ribbons cut from toxic waste containers are knitted together or welded with strips from food and drink cans to make unique tapestries, and each one is adorned with a different phrase.

These words often take the form of cultural maxims, or are drawn from the realms of music, art history or literature.

The ‘Cocorico Paintings’ tell the story of a struggle between the individual and the industrial at a material level – the struggle of art in a world of mass consumption and globalised markets.

Featuring an essay by Swedish curator and art critic, Daniel Birnbaum.

English and French text.