Francis Alys
dal 25/2/2010 al 22/5/2010
Segnalato da
25/2/2010
Francis Alys
Irish Museum of Modern Art - IMMA, Dublin
Le temps du sommeil. An exhibition comprising a series of 111 small-scale paintings by the Belgian-born artist Alys, one of the most original artists working today. 'Le temps du sommeil' has been described as a storyboard or archive of Alys's highly imaginative oeuvre, much of which takes as its starting point simple actions performed by the artist and documented in photographs, film or by other means such as postcards. Curated by Catherine Lambert.
curated by Catherine Lambert
An exhibition comprising a series of 111 small-scale paintings by the Belgian-born
artist Francis Alÿs, one of the most original artists working today, opens to the
public at the Irish Museum of Modern Art on Friday 26 February 2010. Francis Alÿs:
Le temps du sommeil has been described as a storyboard or archive of Alÿs's highly
imaginative oeuvre, much of which takes as its starting point simple actions
performed by the artist and documented in photographs, film or by other means such
as postcards. These actions, involving strange objects and fruitless exercises,
frequently suggest the dreamlike state of the exhibition's title, which could
translate as "sleep time". They are also incorporated into the exhibition in the
form of accompanying texts, many derived from the artist's postcards.
Le temps du sommeil was begun in 1995 and continues today as an ongoing body of
work. The technique is consistent throughout. The figures or other images in the
paintings begin as drawings on tracing paper, which are then transferred onto a
miniature oval landscape with golden green grass and a darkened, olive green sky. In
each case this scene is surrounded by a rich Venetian red ground, built up in layers
with the whole measuring no more than 11.5 by 15 cms. Alÿs compares the oval with
the veduta of early Italian Renaissance paintings, a special distant scene inserted
into a larger landscape. Each painting is dated with a rubber stamp, underlining the
narrative aspect of the series and providing a kind of diary of the artist's
fantasies and obsessions.
Several of the paintings have an obvious connection with Alÿs's recorded actions.
The man walking along carrying a leaking can of paint, echoes the artist's 1995
action The Leak, in which he roamed the streets of Ghent with a punctured paint can
leaving a trail back to the gallery, where he mounted the empty can on the wall.
Another painting calls to mind Alÿs's epic 2002 project, When Faith Moves Mountains,
which took place near the Peruvian capital Lima. This involved 500 volunteers who,
armed only with shovels, moved a 1,600-foot sand dune just four inches from its
original location. The change in the landscape was minute, but Alÿs 's concern was
with its relationship to the prevailing social and political situation at once
"futile and heroic, absurd and urgent".
In 2004 the artist described the place of painting in his work: "What justifies my
recourse to painting is that it's the shortest way - or the only way - to translate
certain scenarios or situations that cannot be said, that cannot be filmed or
performed. It's about entering a situation that could not exist elsewhere, only on
the paper or canvas. They are images, and I want for them to live as such. Like in a
children's book." In June of this year the series will travel to Tate Modern,
London, as part of a retrospective of Alÿs's key works, which will also be shown at
Wiels, Brussels, and at MoMA, New York.
Born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1959, Francis Alÿs studied architecture at the Institut
d'Architecture de Tournai in Belgium and at the Instituto Universitario di
Architettura in Venice. Since 1986 he has made his home in Mexico and has been
particularly associated with Mexico City's historic centre where his studio is
located. His work has been extensively shown worldwide, recent exhibitions include
in 2009 - Shanghai Art Museum; The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and Centro
Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela; in 2008 - KW Institute for
Contemporary Art, Berlin; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Kiasma Museum of
Contemporary Art, Helsinki, and Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. As Alÿs's
international reputation has grown many of his projects have taken place at the
invitation of museums, for example, The Modern Procession, created in 2002, to mark
the temprorary move of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, from Manhattan to Queens.
The exhibition is curated Catherine Lambert, independent curator and former Director
of the Whitechapel Art Gallery.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue, with an afterword by
Enrique Juncosa, Director, IMMA. This artist's book, co-published with Charta,
Milan, provides an essential key to understanding Alÿs's singular imagination.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Embassy of Mexico. The private view is supported
by Corona.
Francis Alÿs: Le temps du sommeil continues until 23 May 2010
image: Francis Alÿs, Le Temps du Sommeil, 1996 - present, series of 100 paintings
(ongoing), oil and pencil on wood, 12 x 16 cm
For further information and images please contact Monica Cullinane or Patrice Molloy
at Tel: +353 1 612 9900; Email: press@imma.ie
Opens to the public on Friday 26 February 2010
Irish Museum of Modern Art - IMMA
Royal Hospital Military Road Kilmainham, Dublin
Opening hours: Tuesday - Saturday: 10.00am - 5.30pm
except Wednesday: 10.30am - 5.30pm
Sundays and Bank Holidays: 12noon - 5.30pm
Mondays and Good Friday 2 April: Closed
Admission is free