‎Russel Ferguson, Cuauht moc Medina, Jean Fisher, Michael Taussig‎
‎Francis Al s‎

‎, Phaidon, 2019 Hardcover, 240 pages, ENG edition, 300 x 260 x 27 mm, As Good as New, dustjacket, illustrated in colour. ISBN 9780714875002.‎

Reference : 62613

‎A leaking can of paint in hand, the artist strolls out of the gallery and drifts aimlessly through the cay, leaving a tral of colour as he goes. So what kind of artwork is the Leak (1995) ? , In one sense it's a painting, but a painting too large for any museum. It's also a performance, though one without an audience. Perhaps most of all, it's an invitation to take the artist's line for a walk, to explore the same path through the city, to breathe the same air and take in the same sights - and in so doing, to eliminate once and for all the division separating art from life. With humour, sensitivity and an acutely personal connection to his subject matter, Francis Al s examines the patterns of various urban sites before weaving his own fables into their tangled social fabric From that point onward, the fables take on a life of their own . A scene as such as a Volkswagen Beetle struggling up a hill in Tijuana (Rehearsal, 1999-2001), a man pushing a block of Ice in Mexico City (Paradox of Prams 1, 1997) or chasing a tornado in the desert (Tornado, 2000-10), or a group of children playing in the streets of Kabul (Reel-Unreel, 2011) can carry, a message that resonates far beyond the work's simple parameters. As the subbtle of his walking piece The Green Line (2004) puts it, "Sometimes doing something poetic can become political, and sometimes doing something political can become poetic". Originally from Belgium but based for the last thirty years in Mexico City, Francis Al s is a truly international artist who has realized works in such diverse locations as Baghdad, Copenhagen, Kabul, Lima, Jerusalem and Tanger. His work has also been exhibited at the world's top museums - including Tate Modern in London, Castello de Rivoli in Turin and the Museum of Modern Art in New York - and featured In the most significant International biennals - Including Gwangju (2009, 2018), Istanbul (1999, 2001, 2015), Sao Paulo (1998, 2005) Venice (1999, 2001, 2007, 2017) and Sydney (2008) as well as in Documenta 13 in Kassel (2012). In the Interwview, Russell Ferguson asks how the artist's identity as a cultural outsider has helped determine the remarkable path of as art over the years Cuauht moc Medina's Survey identifies the threads that run through the east's oeuvre while also sketching a political and social picture of Mexico City, the inspiration and setting for so many of as artworks. In the Focus, Jean Fisher examines the politic, heart of Al s's massive collaborative Land art project When Faith Moves Mountains (2002). In the artist's choice Augusto Monterroso's short tales capture the artist's enduring fascination with the role animals fables play in human society, Artist's writings include a series of short reflections on the everyday details of modern life as well as extracts from logbooks he wrote while working in the Strait of Gibraltar and in Iraq. Finally, In the Update, renown anthropologist MIchael Taussig takes as a starting point the time he spent together with Al s in Afghanistan to discuss the artist's philosophy and his most recent creative endeavours.‎