Do you own a work by Francis Alys, which you would like to sell?
Francis Alys Prices
Artist | Artwork | Price (incl. premium) |
---|---|---|
Francis Alys | The Modern Procession | €2.480 |
Francis Alys | Ghetto Collector | €1.612 |
Born in Antwerp in 1959, Francis Alys spent his childhood in Belgian Pajottenland and later studied architecture in Tournai and Venice from 1978 to 1986. In 1987, he went to Mexico on behalf of the Belgian government to work as an engineer in helping to repair the damage caused by the earthquake in Mexico City in 1985. He remained in Mexico after the project and began to focus on art. He soon made the acquaintance of and began working with the Mexican artist and curator Guillermo Santamaria (born 1957) who focused on presenting young artists in his El Salon de los Aztecas. Alys found his purpose and a new home in Mexico City; from day one, he was fascinated by the capital city with its unique mix of historical buildings and the lively, colourful and bustling everyday life of over 9 million inhabitants, and it became an important point of reference for his work as an artist.
Francis Alys usually develops his artistic concepts during his forays (‘paseos’) through Mexico. In doing so, his art is characterised by something momentary and ephemeral; in fact, he takes care not to leave behind any sculptures or installations in public urban spaces. For one of his projects, he pushed a block of ice through the streets of Mexico City until it had completely melted and only a gradually evaporating trace of water could be seen. For his action Fairy Tales (1994), he unravelled his woollen jumper while walking and dragged it behind him as a trail of thread, like Ariadne's thread in the Minotaur's labyrinth. The artist likes the idea that his art is therefore not tangible, but remains more of a memory and a rumour, a story in the streets of the city, started by eyewitnesses and distorted and falsified by people who only know of it from hearsay. Francis Alys' actions are not completely lost, however: the artist documents them on video.
Francis Alys was supposed to take part in the 49th Biennale di Venezia in 2001, but instead sent a trained peacock to walk around the grounds of the art exhibition and represent the artist at all the evening receptions. Alys does not limit his actions and installations to Mexico, but works all over the world with local communities and international organisations. For example, he walked along the Israeli-Palestinian border with a leaking paint can or had 500 volunteers remove a 200-metre-high sand dune using only shovels and move it 10 centimetres. Francis Alys has received prizes and awards for his art, including the Hugo Boss Prize in 2002, the Rolf Schock Prize for Art in 2020 and the Wolfgang Hahn Prize Cologne in 2023. He has also been an associate member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts of Belgium since 2018. In 2022, Francis Alys took part in the Venice Biennale for the second time - this time in person at the Belgian pavilion.
Francis Alys lives and works in Mexico City.
© Kunsthaus Lempertz
Do you own a work by Francis Alys, which you would like to sell?
Artist | Artwork | Price (incl. premium) |
---|---|---|
Francis Alys | The Modern Procession | €2.480 |
Francis Alys | Ghetto Collector | €1.612 |
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