Francis Alÿs (*1959, Antwerp) is considered one of the most important contemporary artists. His work is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach and includes performances, installations, paintings, video works and site-specific interventions. He creates conceptually across media boundaries and reflects on themes such as migration, social upheaval and the consequences of globalization. His series The Liar, the Copy of the Liar (1993-1997), which was created as part of his Sign Painting Project, is particularly well known.

After studying architecture in Tournai (1978-1983) and at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice, Alÿs relocated to Mexico City in 1986, where he still lives and works today. His art has been presented at international exhibitions such as Documenta 13 in Kassel and the 59th Venice Biennale, where he was part of the Belgian Pavilion.

In 2023, Alÿs was awarded the 29th Wolfgang Hahn Prize of the Gesellschaft für Moderne Kunst and his two-part work Ohne Titel from The Sign Painting Project (1993-1997) was acquired for the collection of the Museum Ludwig. This series is based on the repeated depiction of a male figure in a suit, inspired by the “Rótulos” – hand-painted enamel billboards by sign painters in Mexico City. By collaborating with the sign painters (rotulistas) Juan García, Emilio Rivera and Enrique Huerta, who copied, enlarged and interpreted his paintings, Alÿs questioned concepts such as originality and value creation in art – a process he likened to the principle of the game “Silent Mail”.