Francis Alÿs at the MALBA...
5:01 p.m.
26/11/15 - The MALBA is presenting "Relato de una negociación", a grand exhibition by Francis Alÿs, an artist from Belgium who lives and works in Mexico. The museum displays three projects and situations related to them, something like the making-of.
Alÿs is a rare artist. In spite of spending most of the time in México, he is a world traveller and defines himself as a political man. This is why he is highly interested in the conflicts affecting mankind.
The first project is a video in which a line of kids walk into the sea carrying their sandals/boats. They try to build a human bridge in the Strait of Gibraltar. The camera follows their journey/play as they dive in the depths and emerge again. The anguish is palpable and it's impossible not to think of the many immigrants that live similar experiences daily.
Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River, by Francis Alÿs (2008)
Video - Strait of Gibraltar
The Gibraltar project includes also a series of paintings, drawings, photos and an installation done with the same sandals/boats used by the children in the video. The series pretends to meditate on political and social borders that block the outcasts of the south to have a better life.
Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River, by Francis Alÿs (2008)
Video - Strait of Gibraltar
The second project is the search and pursuit of a tornado to enter its silent cone or let go in its peripheral turbulence. The artist links this phenomenon of Nature with the forces of History. The permanent crisis and inequality suffered in Mexico are the perimeter of the tornado and its silent cone represents the wishes of the artist for social violence to disappear.
A Story of Deception, by Francis Alÿs
The third project was done during Alÿs' stay in Afganistan, as "war artist" during the American and European occupation, while the military forces tried to control the Taliban. It is vox populi that the Taliban destroyed many works of art and cultural images. In fact, they burned Afganistan's film archive (fortunately, it only had copies). The artist is moved by this and films a video in which kids play with the reels on the streets of a devastated Kabul, as if they were bicycle wheels.
Reel-Unreel, by Francis Alÿs (2011)
video
This third project is also displayed with a series of paintings, artistic objects and a work that belongs to the Queen of England: a series of photographs of a soldier that visitors can take and are then replaced by the Museum.
Proyecto Afganistán, by Francis Alÿs (2011)
The exhibition ends with a work located in the middle of the permanent collection of the museum. It's a painting resembling those done by the artist-travelers who reached the continent to depict the flora and fauna. But after finishing the painting, the artist cuts it with a saw. The monotonous landscape now carries Alÿs' action, something that evoques the art of Lucio Fontana.
The Cut, by Francis Alÿs (1993-2015)
action, oil on canvas and video
Francis Alÿs only sells his paintings, his videos can be seen on his Youtube Channel.
An must-see exhibition by a unique artist.
0 comentarios