Francis Alys

Belgian-born, Mexico City-based artist Francis Alys first became known for performances, photographs, videos and drawings that examined the act of walking through an urban environment. More recent works have been characterized by a concern with contemporary myth making--oftentimes with a political edge. Some of his better known projects include the installation of 300 mostly amateur portraits of St. Fabiola at New York's Hispanic Society in 2007 and the 2002 performance piece, "Modern Procession," in which replicas of a Picasso, a Duchamp and a Giacometti accompanied artist Kiki Smith and other celebrants across the Queensboro Bridge to MoMA QNS. In two major essays on Alys' oeuvre and three shorter texts on select video installations, this publication focuses on works by the artist in the Goetz Collection. This volume spans from 1991 to 2006, providing a condensed retrospective of the artist's work to date.