Francis Alÿs, artist and art
Born 1959, Birth Antwerpen, Belgium.
The artist lives and works in Mexico.
A close observer and occasional manipulator of the quirks of everyday life, Alÿs responds to fleeting and contingent circumstances from the viewpoint of a passerby who is both involved and separate.
Artist biography, artworks, statement, interview, review, exhibition:
The Thief.
When Faith Moves Mountains’ with biography
Untitled work in the MOMA collection
Francis Alÿs, a Belgian artist who relocated to Mexico City in the early 1990s, has assembled a significant collection of nearly identical paintings and other depictions of fourth-century Saint Fabiola over the last two decades. All of these are based on a renowned, but lost, portrait by nineteenth-century French academic painter Jean-Jacques Henner. This much-venerated image has been so assiduously copied by amateurs and professionals alike that it has become a popular icon, a phenomenon that, as the artist stated, "indicates a different criterion of what a masterwork could be."
Francis Alÿs chose to present the sketches for two walks he took in downtown Manhattan following the attacks of September 11, 2001. According to the artist, these walks were taken "with no expectation or destination," relaying an experience of being urban driftwood…
Auctions & Auction Results
From leading auction houses worldwide, Francis Alÿs on Mutualart
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