Francis Alÿs and the exhibition trail from Bogotá to Cincinnati
Published on 08/27/2026 at 11:07 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Francis Alÿs has built a practice that moves between painting, video and quietly choreographed social situations. His recent exhibition footprint stretches from Bogotá’s Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia to the FotoFocus Center in Cincinnati, as institutional and photography platforms present his work in 2026.
Exhibitions from Bogotá to Zurich
The touring exhibition Francis Alÿs: Juegos de niñxs, 1999–2025 at Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia (MAMU) in Bogotá focuses on more than two decades of the artist’s filmed children’s games, connecting local street play to global urban experience. The show runs in 2026 as part of a longer traveling itinerary through major institutions in Latin America.
Parallel to the Bogotá presentation, Galerie Peter Kilchmann in Zurich staged the solo exhibition Handspiele in mid 2026, concentrating on Alÿs’s animation works and expanding his well-known video language into compact, looped gestures. The show reflects how his hand-drawn sequences condense larger political and social questions into brief, repeatable movements.
Francis Alÿs in photography and group contexts
Photography-oriented platforms have also integrated Alÿs’s work this year. FotoFocus Center in Cincinnati includes him in the group exhibition Big Tent, which situates his moving-image pieces among broader discussions of visual culture and lens-based practices. This placement underscores how his hybrid of painting, film and documentary observation resonates within a photography-led institution.
Beyond these 2026 shows, Alÿs remains present in European group exhibitions focusing on street and urban space, where his earlier projects on wandering and minor interventions are paired with figures such as Guy Debord and Tomislav Gotovac. These contexts highlight his long-term engagement with everyday movement as artistic material rather than spectacle.
All news and background on Francis Alÿs
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The work core and children’s games
Alÿs is known for projects in which modest actions unfold into layered reflections on politics and social space, often through filmed walks, games or small constructions. The long-running series now framed as Juegos de niñxs, 1999–2025 documents children playing in different cities, revealing how improvised rules and gestures respond to landscapes marked by conflict, migration and uneven development.
Where the artist stands now
Against this backdrop, Francis Alÿs’s practice continues to develop through traveling exhibitions and new group-show contexts, with institutional programs in Latin America and Europe extending the reach of his children’s games and urban interventions beyond 2026.
Key facts on Francis Alÿs
- Artist: Francis Alÿs
- Medium / Genre: Installation, video and painting with conceptual focus
- Born: 1959, Antwerp, Belgium
- Place(s) of practice: Studio-based practice centered on Mexico City with international projects
- Active since: early 1990s, with urban walk pieces and interventions in Mexico City
- Key work groups: Children’s Games, When Faith Moves Mountains, Re-enactments, Modern Procession
- Current/last exhibition: Francis Alÿs: Juegos de niñxs, 1999–2025, Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia (MAMU), Bogotá, 2026 touring presentation
- Major collections: MoMA (New York), Tate (London), Museum Ludwig (Cologne), Nasher Museum of Art (Durham)
- Awards: Documented representation in major biennials and museum programs; specific prize listings vary by institution
- Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Francis Alÿs
Where can Francis Alÿs’s children’s games be seen in a museum context?
In 2026 the touring exhibition Francis Alÿs: Juegos de niñxs, 1999–2025 is on view at Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia (MAMU) in Bogotá, presenting video works that track children’s improvised play across different geographies.
Which recent exhibitions highlight Francis Alÿs’s animation and hand-drawn work?
Galerie Peter Kilchmann in Zurich mounted the solo exhibition Handspiele, focusing on Alÿs’s animations and hand-drawn sequences, which translate his interest in small-scale actions into looped visual narratives within a gallery setting.
How does Francis Alÿs appear in photography-centered platforms in 2026?
The FotoFocus Center in Cincinnati features Alÿs in the group exhibition Big Tent, where his moving-image work is shown alongside photography and other lens-based practices, emphasizing the crossover between his filmic observations and photographic discourse.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
