Francis Alÿs: The Fabiola Project

This documentary features curator Lynne Cooke and artist Francis Alÿs discussing The Fabiola Project, currently installed in the repurposed Byzantine Fresco Chapel of the Menil Collection. The project consists of more than 450 reproductions of a lost 1885 painting of 4th-century Roman Saint Fabiola depicted in left-facing profile wearing a red headscarf by French artist Jean-Jacques Henner. Belgian artist Francis Alÿs initiated the project in the early 1990s, shortly after he moved to Mexico City. In the city’s flea markets and antique and junk shops, he found and bought versions of Henner’s Fabiola. Gradually, Alÿs’s casual collecting project gathered steam as he and his friends discovered new images of the saint during their travels around the world.
Produced by The Menil Collection and Carrithers Studio in Houston, Texas.

[@julianapurvis3461]

This was one of the most moving exhibits I’ve ever experienced. Thank you for capturing it on film!

[@kathleenoreilly1142]

This documentary is extraordinary on so many levels. It reminds us of the important role the venue of an exhibit plays (same paintings in different spaces/ different light/different color walls as backbground, can create such different reactions even if only subtly). Also intriguing to learn of the history of the original painting and its possible loss in the SF earth quake, and the sheer size of the collection. Thank you for creating and for sharing.

[@audreymuzingo933]

I have a hand-painted portrait brooch of her, in a beautiful sterling frame with glass and everything. After looking at god-knows-how-many nearly identical images of her, I swear mine is the prettiest. 😊