The Liar and The Copy of The Liar

Francis Alys

Francis Alÿs brings a poetic, irreverent sensibility to his conceptual, multidisciplinary practice, which explores anthropological and geopolitical systems as well as the mundanities of everyday life. He makes installations, videos, paintings, drawings, performances, and public actions that push the boundaries of artmaking. Alÿs’s work often considers the power of collective action—he once commissioned hundreds of volunteers to move a sand dune by 10 centimeters, while another project involved carrying a leaking paint can along the Israel–Palestine border. Other pieces play with ideas of authorship and collaboration, as in Untitled (Sign Painting Project) (1993–97), for which the artist hired sign painters to make copies of his works. Alÿs has presented at institutions including Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, the Hammer Museum, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. In 2017, he represented Iraq at the Venice Biennale. His work has sold for six figures at auction.