Francis Alÿs : A Story of Deception

Abstract

Published on the occasion of the exhibition held June 15-Sept. 5, 2010, Tate Modern, London ; Oct. 9, 2010--Jan. 30, 2011, Wiels, Brussels ; May 8-Aug. 1, 2011, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Originally published 2010 by Tate Publishing, London. Francis Alys, born in Belgium in 1959, is one of the world's leading contemporary artists. After studying architecture in Venice, in 1986 he moved to Mexico City, where he has lived ever since. Alys works at scales ranging from the humblest drawing to the creation of epic events involving hundreds of participants, in media including video, photography, painting and performance. With an introductory essay by Mark Godfrey and comments on over sixty key works by Alys and Cuauhtemoc Medina, this book features a dictionary of quotes from the artist as well as responses to his work from a range of international contributors, including artists, critics, poets and urban theorists. --Book Jacket. Politics/poetics : the work of Francis Alÿs / Mark Godfrey -- Francis Alÿs : A to Z / compiled by Klaus Biesenbach and Cara Starke -- Entries / Francis Alÿs and Cuauhtémoc Medina -- The moment something is understood it begins to be forgotten / Eduardo Abaroa -- Trips and traps / Tom McDonough -- The 1:1 map / Eyal Weizman -- Vanishing mediator / T.J. Demos -- Dogs and the city / Miwon Kwon -- The storyteller / Francesco Cateri -- Bolero (Shoeshine blues) / Carla Faesler -- Becoming other to be oneself : Francis Alÿs inside the borderline / Laymert Garcia dos Santos -- How to do time with art / Boris Groys -- Where sculpture happens / Lorna Scott Fox.