MoMA and MoMA PS1 are currently showing a two-part exhibition, “Francis Alys: A Story of Deception.” Alys’ work examines the socio-political challenges facing Latin America through a kaleidoscope of mediums - drawing, animation, video and photography. His efforts are concerned with the creation of mythology and how the individual becomes the narrator, the progenitor of these myths.
Entering “A Story of Deception,” one is greeted by the sound of church bells, an integral element of Cuentos Patrioticos, a video of a man leading a line of sheep in a circle around a square. This piece references a 1968 protest where civil servants bleated like sheep in objection to government treatment.
Video work is a crucial part of this exhibition, a medium through which Alys creates moving metaphors implicating Latin America’s structural short-comings. Rehearsal 1, for example, is a particularly striking work in which a red Volkswagon Beetle attempts to climb a dusty, unpaved road on the border of the United States and Mexico, set to a score of a rehearsing brass band. Despite its constant attempts, the VW cannot reach the hilltop. The metaphor being, despite its attempts to modernize, the lack of structure in Latin America prevents its governments from making substantive strives and actual progress.
Curated in conjunction with the artist, “A Story of Deception” incorporates a collection of drawings, postcards, photographs, drafts, sketches, and preparatory materials for each project. This insight into Alys’ process further endows an already exceptional show with an engaging dynamism, inviting the viewer into the artist’s world, witnessing his exploration of the issues that matter most to him.
