Untitled
Francis Alÿs
Belgian, born 1959
1999-2001
A working sketch in graphite, colored pencil, and ink on paper in which Alÿs mixes quick drawings and handwritten notes to map out a time-based, mobile idea.
What hits you first is a diagonal procession of three roughly rendered orange cars and two dark blue ink blotches crossing a page crowded with rapid, crossed-out Spanish notes, arrows and underlines that make the sheet read like a set of instructions in motion.
The sheet exemplifies Alÿs’s practice of elevating preparatory notebooks into artworks, making visible how conceptual planning, performative action, language and chance combine to produce contemporary public art.
Medium
Graphite, colored pencil, and ink on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 x 8 1/2" (27.9 x 21.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of The Speyer Family Foundation, Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr., Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, Anna Marie and Robert F. Shapiro, The Julia Stoschek Foundation, Düsseldorf, and Committee on Media Funds
Accession
207.2007.21
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
