The modern procession, 2002 - Museum of Modern Art - Brief Article

On the morning of June 23, some 150 people (the ranks would swell to 300), several dogs a horse, three modern masterworks (in replica, of course), and one Kiki Smith borne aloft by the throng, marched across the Queensboro Bridge Organized in cooperation with the Museum of Modern Art and the Public Art Fund, Francis Alys's The Modern Procession marked MOMA'S temporary move from its Manhattan base to Long Island City, Queens.

Photo for Artforum by Dennis Cowley.

Mexico City-based artist FRANCIS ALYS has participated in seven international biennials since 1994, from Sao Paulo and Venice to Saarema, Estonia. Conceived for the third Bienal Iberoamericana de Lima this May, Alys's When Faith Moves Mountains mobilized a small army of volunteers to move a 1,600-foot-long sand dune four inches forward (Art forum, cover, Summer 2002). Alys's work is featured in P.S. 1's current "Mexico City: An Exhibition about the Exchange Rates of Bodies and Values." In June he staged The Modern Procession, a ceremonial march across two boroughs, to commemorate MOMA's move from its midtown Manhattan headquarters to its temporary home in Long Island City, Queens. This month's Centerfold captures the celebrants as they make their way across the Queensboro Bridge.

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