Francis Alÿs

Gnome Collection Ltd.
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 2006

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of light wear and handling along the edges of the canvases with associated small losses. All surface inconsistencies in the paper element appear inherent to the medium and the artist's working method. Taped down to the matte by the artist. Framed under Plexiglas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The work of Francis Alÿs explores the intersection of the poetic and the political through media as diverse as video, animations, drawing and painting. A Belgian-born immigrant to Mexico City, Alÿs is drawn to areas of conflict in border zones or on the streets of his adopted city where he illuminates the predicament of the powerless and draws wider conclusions about the human condition. His work is at once allegorical and multi-layered yet deceptively simple.

Many of Alÿs's images are drawn from street life in the megalopolis, the stage upon which the daily struggle to survive unfolds, depicting street hawkers, the homeless and the ubiquitous stray dogs. The theme that permeates much of his work is the endless cycle of hope and despair, the utopia which is always a mirage. For Alÿs, the source of this discontent can be found in the discourse of modernization, the "development" programs imposed on Latin America from which very few seem to benefit. In his work, there is always a sense of futility bordering on the absurd, through which the constraints and hardships of present day human existence are deftly illuminated.

Good Dog/Bad Dog returns to the familiar motif of street dogs, and can be seen to refer back to The Collectors (1990-1992), magnetized metal "dogs" that Alÿs walked through the filthy city streets on a length of string so that their surfaces gradually adhered all of the metal detritus as they passed. The imagery in Good Dog/Bad Dog invites comparison to children's illustrations or comic books, and yet, taken as a metaphor for the relationship between Latin America and the so-called First World, the connotations are darker and more sobering.  Still another reading is provided by the title of an earlier work by the artist, Sexuality is a Fight Against Daily Erosion, on the same theme, featuring two dogs mating against a backdrop of human skulls, a wry take on First World stereotypes about Latin America.