Francis Alÿs (Phaidon Contemporary Artists Series)

In the Interview, Russell Ferguson asks how the artist's identity as a cultural outsider has helped determine the path of his art over the years. Cuauhtemoc Medina's Survey identifies the threads that run through the artist's oeuvre while also sketching a political and social picture of Mexico City, the inspiration and setting for so many of his artworks. In the Focus, Jean Fisher examines the political heart of Alys's massive collaborative land art project When Faith Moves Mountains (2002). In the Artist's Choice, Augusto Monterroso's short tales capture the artist's enduring fascination with the role animals and fables play in human society, while Alys's own writings uncover the poetry in everyday phrases and seemingly spontaneous arrangements of urban life.