In her suggestive photographs, Marie-Jo Lafontaine conjures up images of the physical and psychological conditions of human existence, archetypal instincts and mythical, primal motives. She works primarily in the media of video and still photography. Her films are usually run simultaneously on multiple monitors which she integrates into - often monumental and in some cases accessible - architectural structures. Her photographs, in their virtually unapproachable perfection, have a classical, solemn, sublime quality that derives from an unusual mode of presentation. In a subsequent phase, she incorporates these works along with other objects into multimedia installations staged as monumental Gesamtkunstwerke which address all of the five senses. Along with the well-known video sculpture Every Angel is Terrifying, this publication presents five new work complexes by the Belgian artist, in which she deals with the broad themes of youth, youth culture, identity, the city and the world of experience in large cities. The artist: Marie-Jo Lafontaine, born 1950 in Antwerp; 1975-1979: studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture et des Arts Visuels "La Cambre" in Brussels; 1987: exhibited at documenta 8 in Kassel, attracting considerable attention with the video sculpture Les larmes d'acier; recipient of numerous prizes and awards; 1998/99: served as cultural ambassador of Flanders; lives and works in Brussels.