Francis Alys
dal 19/9/2007 al 5/4/2007
Segnalato da
The Hispanic Society of America
19/9/2007
Francis Alys
The Hispanic Society of America, New York
Fabiola
Fabiola
Over the last two decades, Francis Alÿs has assembled a
significant collection of nearly identical paintings and other
reproductions of fourth-century Saint Fabiola, all based on
a now-lost original painted in the nineteenth century by the
French artist Jean-Jacques Henner.
This obscure work has been assiduously copied by ama-
teurs and professionals alike and has become a popular
icon, a phenomenon that, as the artist stated, “indicated a
different criterion of what a masterwork could be.”
The exhibition of these images at the Hispanic Society will
for the first time comprise Alÿs’s complete group of almost
three hundred Fabiola portraits.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of public
programs including lectures, panel discussions, and gallery
talks, as well as special educational initiatives that draw on
the relationship between the contemporary project and the
Hispanic Society’s permanent collection.
The Alÿs project will be accompanied by a hardcover book
that will include background material on Saint Fabiola, as
well as essays by art historians, theological historians, and
Dia Curator Lynne Cooke. The publication will also catalo-
gue each Fabiola, including detailed descriptions and photographs, many in full-color.
The Hispanic Society of America
613 West 155th Street - New York
Admission free