Philippe Parreno

Known for: Directing

Born: December 31, 1963 in Oran, Algier

Philippe Parreno is a French contemporary artist, living and working in Paris. His works include films, installations, performances, drawings, and text. Parreno's work centers around both expanding ideas of time and duration through his artworks and distinctive conception of exhibitions as a medium. He began examining unique approaches to both narration and representation in the 1990s, and has been exhibiting internationally since. His early works include video-conference lectures incorporating footage from television shows and films. In 1999, Parreno collaborated with Pierre Huyghe to buy the copyright to a manga character named AnnLee and create a series of videos titled No Ghost Just a Shell. Other artists created works involving AnnLee, and their collective work culminated in a group exhibition. Parreno continued collaborating on films, creating Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, which followed soccer player Zinedine Zidane through a 90-minute match, in 2006; and June 8, 1968, a film about the train that carried Robert Kennedy’s body from New York to Washington, in 2009.