Francis Alÿs, Untitled (Study for Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River), 2007. Detail.
Oil and encaustic on canvas on wood. 24.5 x 18.2 cm.
Courtesy of the Artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich. Copyright the Artist.
Opening Reception: August 28, 2026, 15.00 – 18.00
Drinks and snacks will be served.
MILAAP
Lille Strandvej 19
(Entrance via Strandengen 4)
2900 Hellerup
Denmark
This is a private event.
Please RSVP before August 25 by contacting:
Grace Roy Hess
grace@superflex.net
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
The Water Between Us explores the work of Francis Alÿs and SUPERFLEX. The exhibition reflects the convergence of borders, maintenance, migration, economies and play. Spanning video works, painting, and site-specific installations, the result is an immersive experience that asks us to question our neutrality—or lack thereof.
SUPERFLEX, Kwassa Kwassa, 2015.
Commissioned by The Jamil Collection & Marrakech Biennale 6.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Francis Alÿs
Trained as an architect and urbanist, Francis Alÿs moved to Mexico in 1986 to work with local NGO’s. In 1990 he entered the field of visual arts. His practice embraces multiple media, from painting and drawing to video and photography.
With humour, sensitivity and an acutely personal connection to his subject matter, Francis Alÿs examines the patterns of urban sites before weaving his own fables. He explores subjects such as modernism in Latin America and border zones in areas of politic conflicts, asking about the relevance of poetic acts. Alÿs’s work starts with a simple action, either by him or others, which is then documented in a range of media. From that point onward, the fables take on a life of their own. His works often seem to be documents or traces of an artistic practice. Alÿs has used video and film, but also other media such as postcards. Painting and drawing remain central to his work. Alÿs consistently comes back to once-developed themes, treating his previous works like a repository for future pieces. In its repetition and transmission he continues a larger story, trying to materialise a missing episode. What makes Alÿs’s practice so compelling is that he manages to address the political through poetic acts.
Francis Alÿs (b. 1959) has exhibited extensively. Major solo exhibitions include WIELS, Brussels (2023); MUAC, Mexico City (2023); The Belgian Pavilion, Venice Biennale (2022); Fragmentos, Bogota (2020); Tai Kwun, Hong Kong (2020); Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2018); Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2017); Secession, Vienna (2016); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2015); Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (2015); Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2013); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (2013); The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2011); Tate Modern, London (2010) and Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (2003). Recent major international group exhibitions include (selection): Shanghai Biennial (2018); Iraqi Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale (2017); dOCUMENTA(13), Kassel (2012).
SUPERFLEX
SUPERFLEX was founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, and Rasmus Rosengren Nielsen. Conceived as an expanded collective, SUPERFLEX has consistently worked with a wide variety of collaborators, from gardeners to engineers to audience members. Engaging with alternative models for the creation of social and economic organisation, works have taken the form of energy systems, beverages, sculptures, copies, hypnosis sessions, infrastructure, paintings, plant nurseries, contracts, and public spaces.
Working in and outside the physical location of the exhibition space, SUPERFLEX has been engaged in major public space projects since their award-winning Superkilen opened in 2011. These projects often involve participation, involving the input of local communities, specialists, and children. Taking the idea of collaboration even further, recent works have involved soliciting the participation of other species. SUPERFLEX has been developing a new kind of urbanism that includes the perspectives of plants and animals, aiming to move society towards interspecies living. For SUPERFLEX, the best idea might come from a fish.
SUPERFLEX has presented solo exhibitions in institutions such as Tate Modern, London; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands; the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan; and Pista 500, Pinacoteca Agnelli, Turin, Italy. SUPERFLEX has also created permanent works in public space, including Play Contract in Billund, Denmark and One Two Three Swing! in the DMZ between North and South Korea. In addition, SUPERFLEX has participated in major international events including the Venice Biennale, Desert X, and the biennials of Gwangju, Istanbul, and São Paulo. Their works are included in the collections of institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Louisiana Museum of Contemporary Art in Denmark, and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.