Mexico-based Francis Alÿs (born 1959 in Belgium) walks the streets to cast his eye on social problems ubiquitous to everyday life, which he allegorizes so as to bring them to the surface. Trained in architecture, he is an artist who builds worlds of poetical works through a diverse range of expression including video, painting and photography. Via the not-at-all-special act of walking, he reflects people’s lives and the political issues that are inseparable from them. This exhibition presents a broad selection from his oeuvre, ranging from representative early works created in Mexico to recent ones themed on the Strait of Gibraltar, which links two continents and their differing cultures.

*image (left)
Don't Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River, Strait of Gibraltar, 2008,
Photo: Jorge Golem
© Francis Alÿs

Courtesy of Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art