Michèle Métail (France, 1950) does not allow her work to be limited to paper and language. Since her stage debut in 1973 she has often presented ‘oral publications’ – musical and rhythmic language performances lasting from several minutes to several hours. In the so-called Gigantextes, she uses different techniques, including acrylic on canvas, calligraphy, and photography, to find a balance between the text and the generated image. The creation, along with Bernard Heidsieck, of the organisation Dixit is a result of her desire to make no distinction between disciplines, but to find fusion between different forms of expression. Metail studied German and Chinese, and currently lives and works in southern France.

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