Artist

Francis Alÿs

Born in Antwerp, 1959 and lives in Mexico City

Francis Alÿs (b. 1959, Antwerp) is a Belgian-born, Mexico-based artist. His work emerges in the interdisciplinary space of art, architecture, and social practice. After leaving behind his formal training as an architect and relocated to Mexico City, he has created a diverse body of artwork that explores urbanity, spatial justice, and land-based poetics.
Employing a broad range of media from painting to performance, his works examine the tension between politics and poetics, individual action and impotence. Alÿs commonly enacts paseos—walks that resist the subjection of common space. Alys reconfigures time to the speed of a stroll, making reference to the figure of the flâneur, originating from the work of Charles Baudelaire and developed by Walter Benjamin.
Cyclical repetition and return also inform the character of Alÿs’ movements and mythology—Alÿs contrasts geological and technological time through land-based and social practice that examine individual memory and collective mythology. Alÿs frequently engages rumor as a central theme in his practice, disseminating ephemeral, practice-based works through word-of-mouth and storytelling.

Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: Ricochets
A new immersive exhibition celebrating the universality and ingenuity of play: “Ricochets”...
27 Jun 2024 - 01 Sep 2024
Barbican Centre
London
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: The Nature of the Game
Following his presentation for the Flemish entry for the Belgian Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale...
07 Sep 2023 - 07 Jan 2024
Wiels Contemporary Art Centre
Brussels
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: Children’s Games
Since 1999, Alÿs has been producing videos that document the games that children play on the street and in courtyards around the world.
11 Feb 2023 - 17 Sep 2023
Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo – MUAC
Mexico City
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: As Long as I’m Walking
Francis Alÿs solo exhibition at Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne
15 Oct 2021 - 16 Jan 2022
Lausanne
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: Wet feet __ dry feet: borders and games
The exhibition is co-presented with Art Sonje Center
28 Oct 2020 - 16 Feb 2021
Tai Kwun
Hong Kong
Exhibitions
Unique
A group exhibitions collecting the main editions produced for the art space over the years
11 Sep 2020 - 18 Dec 2020
Parkett
Zurich
Exhibitions
Our World is Burning
A group exhibition on the climate consequences of fire on our planet from a singular perspective.
21 Feb 2020 - 17 May 2020
Palais de Tokyo
Paris
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs
The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo presents an exhibition in two parts that provides an overview of...
06 Apr 2013 - 08 Sep 2013
MOT – Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Tokyo
Exhibitions
Akakor
The exhibition looks at acts of charlatanism within the artistic realm. The curators Kiki Mazzucchelli...
09 Apr 2015 - 29 May 2015
São Paulo
Exhibitions
2050. A Brief History of the Future
The exhibition takes its name from the book by Jacques Attali, published in 2006, in which the author...
23 Mar 2016 - 29 May 2016
Palazzo Reale
Milan
Exhibitions
Post Neo Mexicanisms
The exhibition Post Neo Mexicanisms comprises a selection of works from the ESPAC Collection, plus some...
16 Apr 2016 - 31 Aug 2016
Mexico City
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: Hotel Juárez
Hotel Juárez, the new production of Francis Alÿs, emerges in a national landscape in which artistic...
25 Mar 2016 - 26 Jul 2016
Mexico City
Exhibitions
The Lasting
The Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea inaugurates its new exhibitions program under...
22 Jun 2016 - 17 Jan 2017
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Rome
Exhibitions
Out of Order – Works from the Helga de Alvear Collection
The Helga de Alvear Collection is currently one of Europe’s most important contemporary art exhibitions,...
25 Jun 2016 - 26 Sep 2016
São Paulo
Exhibitions
Performer/Audience/Mirror
The exhibition ‘Performer/Audience/Mirror’ celebrates moving image and features work from the 1960s...
15 Jul 2016 - 27 Aug 2016
London
Exhibitions
Esma’/Listen
Beirut Art Center presents Esma’/Listen, a journey in the works of artists and composers developing...
27 Apr 2016 - 21 Aug 2016
Beirut Art Center
Beirut
Exhibitions
Collection Museo Tamayo
The international modern and contemporary art collection of Museo Tamayo was initiated by Rufino Tamayo...
30 Jul 2016 - 31 Jan 2017
Museo Tamayo
Mexico City
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: Le temps du sommeil
Francis Alÿs is known for his discreet performative solo actions as well as for coordinating large-scale...
18 Nov 2016 - 22 Jan 2017
Secession
Vienna
Exhibitions
The Restless Earth
La Triennale di Milano and the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi present La Terra Inquieta (The Restless Earth),...
28 Apr 2017 - 20 Aug 2017
Triennale di Milano
Milan
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: Knots’n Dust
The exhibition features early and recent works by the artist that explore zones of turbulence, the motions...
31 Jan 2018 - 04 Apr 2018
Beirut Art Center
Beirut
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: The Logbook of Gibraltar
Art Sonje Center presents Francis Alÿs’s first ever solo show in Korea. Francis Alÿs consistently...
31 Aug 2018 - 04 Nov 2018
Art Sonje Center
Seoul
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: La dépense
This is the first large-scale solo exhibition in China by the Belgian artist Francis Alÿs, curated by...
09 Nov 2018 - 24 Feb 2019
Shanghai
Exhibitions
The Street. Where the World is Made
The exhibition gathers more than 200 works by around 140 artist to pay an homage to the street, investigated not...
07 Dec 2018 - 28 Apr 2019
Rome
Exhibitions
Francis Alÿs: Children’s Games
For this exhibition, Francis Alÿs presents his series of scenes of children at play around the world....
04 Sep 2019 - 05 Jan 2020
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC)
Montreal
Art Spaces
Peter Kilchmann Zurich
Galleries in Zurich
David Zwirner – London
Galleries in London
David Zwirner – Hong Kong
Galleries in Hong Kong
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