Francis Als observes with a keen eye how people struggle, and how they take pleasure in little

things, even though their lives are not easy. He tells of the setbacks and triumphs of everyday
life, without mockery or cynicism, but rather with the sadness of a clown. He is interested in
perceiving and decoding the things we often overlook and in a way that the trial can be freighted
with associations.
Ingvild Goetz
Francis Als blurs the boundaries between melancholy and humorous story- telling by means of seemingly naive
paintings and drawings that form the basis for small animated films addressing socially critical actions and studies
relating to everyday life on the streets of his chosen home, Mexico City.
He first came to wider international attention with his Paseos seemingly casual walks through the city that provide
documentary, glimpses of the citys political, social and historical situation as though by chance.
In this exhibition, the nine- part video installation Choques, 2005 2006, ran like a connecting theme throughout all the
rooms. The films showed the encounter between a man and a dog from different viewpoints. Many of the other works
were produced in and around Mexico Citys large main square, known as the Zcalo an area rich in history and
impacted by social problems. One such work is Cuentos Patriticos, 1997, documenting a performance by the artist in
which he walks around the flagpole at the centre of the Zcalo with a ram trotting behind him on a leash. Each time
they round it, another sheep is added to the procession until an unbroken circle is formed. This deeply symbolic act is
based on a specific event: during the upheavals of 1968, thousands of civil servants descended upon the Zcalo in what
appeared to be a demonstration of support for the government, only to turn their backs to the official podium in an act
of rebellion and start bleating like a vast herd of sheep.
Between 1992 and 2001, Als photographed animals and people in the streets of Mexico City, including the displaced,
the homeless, and the hawkers. He documented the everyday life of this bustling metropolis in images that speak for
themselves images that show how creatively solutions are sought to poverty and hopelessness, and how the non-
places of the city become places of survival, and of life. For the slide projection Ambulantes, 1992 2001, he
photographed people carrying or dragging all manner of things crates, plants, barrels, balloons across the street in
their own improvised approach to transportation within the megalopolis of Mexico City.
Francis Als (born 1959 in Antwerpen, BE) lives and works in Mexico- City.
Francis Als
MAY 26 - OCTOBER 11, 2008 | GOETZ COLLECTION