- Artist or Maker
- Francis Alÿs
Belgium, active Mexico, Mexico City, born 1959 - Title
- Untitled (Man with Chair) (Sin título [hombre con silla])
- Date Made
- 1995
- Medium
- Graphite and color pencil on tracing paper
- Dimensions
- 15 × 11 1/2 in. (38.1 × 29.21 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2007.46.4
- Collecting Area
- Latin American Art
- Curatorial Notes
This work, and the rest from the set (https://collections.lacma.org/node/213005" >M.2007.46.1, https://collections.lacma.org/node/213039" > M.2007.46.2, and https://collections.lacma.org/node/213040" > M.2007.46.3), portray a well-dressed businessman seated on a chair and set against a dystopian urban landscape. They belong to Francis Alÿs’s series of sign paintings of the 1990s. Alÿs created an original image, which he then gave to a workshop of trained sign painters, or rotulistas, in Mexico City to copy. The rotulistas in turn introduced subtle modifications to the artist’s design. Each painting is marked by a series of social transactions, making it impossible to discern the original from the copy—a poignant commentary on the larger practice of art making across history and its emphasis on "individual" genius.
Ilona Katzew, Curator and Department Head, Latin American Art
