Europe

Francis Alÿs

Study for “Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River” (Pink Man Walking on Boats with Woman Following)

2007

Study for 'Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River' (Pink Man Walking on Boats with Woman Following), 2007

Study for ‘Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River’ (Pink Man Walking on Boats with Woman Following) by Francis Alÿs is a compelling drawing that offers a raw glimpse into the artist’s creative process. Part of a series of small sketches, this piece is executed using pen, ink, colored pencil, charcoal, and masking tape on architect’s tracing paper. Alÿs often creates these initial sketches to conceptualize his performances, videos, and larger works. In this drawing, a pink man is depicted walking across boats with a woman following, symbolizing a journey or a precarious path. The use of architect’s tracing paper emphasizes the planning and structural elements of the piece, while the mixed media introduces texture and depth. This study captures the essence of Alÿs’s thematic exploration of human perseverance and the metaphorical crossing of obstacles. It provides invaluable insight into his thinking processes and the foundational ideas that underpin his more extensive projects, highlighting his ability to transform simple concepts into profound artistic statements.

Trained as an architect, Francis Alÿs turned to a visual arts-based practice in the early 1990s as a more immediate, direct, and effective way of exploring issues related to urbanization, to the ordering and significance of urban space and to the semiotics of its use. His work initiates with a simple action, either executed by him or others, which is then documented in a range of media. Alÿs explores subjects such as modernizing programs in Latin America and border zones in areas of conflict, often asking about the relevance of poetic acts in politicized situations. Documentation is central to his practice as well as painting, drawing, and video. In his work, When Faith Moves Mountains (2002) made in collaboration with Mexican critic Cuauhtemoc Medina, Alÿs recruited 500 volunteers outside of Lima, Peru. Each person moved a shovel full of sand one step at a time from one side of a dune to the other, and together they moved the entire geographical location of the dune by a few inches. Critic Jean Fisher linked Alÿs’s work to the radical event of precipitating a crisis of meaning, where the exposure of a void of meaning is confronted by its social situation, leading up to some kind of truth.

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Francis Alÿs Study for “Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River” (Pink Man Walking on Boats with Woman Following)

Francis Alÿs

Study for “Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River” (Pink Man Walking on Boats with Woman Following)