Booking fees
£1.50 booking fee per online/phone transaction.
No fee when tickets are booked in person.
Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.
Francis Alÿs
With a career spanning four decades, Alÿs has forged a unique and radical practice ranging from painting and drawing to film and animation. Trained as an architect and urbanist in Tournai, Belgium and Venice, Italy, Alÿs moved to Mexico City in 1986. The rapidly shifting urban context and the consequent changes to social dynamics in the late 1980s inspired him to become a visual artist, developing his early public interventions. Works like Paradox of Praxis 1 (Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing), 1997, wherein Alÿs pushed a large block of melting ice through the streets of Mexico City for nine hours, quickly established him as a leading artist of his generation.
Working in collaboration with local communities around the world, his engagement with cross-cultural contexts from Latin America to North Africa and the Middle East operates beyond dominant, Western-centric narratives. What emerges is a lifelong exploration of art as a vehicle for witnessing social and political change.
Gallery sound levels
Please be aware that the video installation has loud sound levels. Should you or one of your group have specific sensory needs we encourage you to bring either ear defenders or ear plugs with you. There will be a limited number to borrow on site, please enquire at the Art Gallery Ticket Desk for these.
Read the exhibition guide
Francis Alÿs: Exhibition guide
Ahead of your visit, browse our guide to the exhibition online.
The Barbican was designed to be different
Pay What You Can
Every Monday between 10am - 12pm and every Thursday between 5 – 8pm, entry to Francis Alÿs: Ricochets is priced Pay What You Can.
Simply pick the price you can pay and enjoy the exhibition. If you're able to pay £17, you'll be helping to support our Visual Arts programme at the Barbican.
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Schools
Entry to the Art Gallery is free for students up to Year 9 (UK), or international equivalents.
A discounted group booking rate of £3 per student is available for older students in formal education groups of more than 10 people, up to the age of 19.
If you’d like to find out more about our current exhibition, or arrange a school visit, please email groups@barbican.org.uk
Access
During the run of Francis Alÿs: Ricochets, we have a variety of access resources and information to help support your visit.
If you have any access requirements that you would like to discuss ahead of your visit, please email [email protected] or call 020 7101 1188 (Mon - Sun 10am-4pm).
Wheelchair Access
Francis Alÿs: Ricochets is accessible by the Main Centre Lifts to Level 3. There is a passenger lift (107 x 140cm) inside the gallery to access the upper level.
BSL Tour & Relaxed Viewings
Visual Story
A visual story of The Gallery can be requested here under the Visual Stories section.
Communication Cards – Pre planning your journey
We have communication cards to help you find your way around the building. We have digital copies you can access and/or print at home as well as printed copies in the Centre available at our info desk on Level G. Please ask a member of staff if you need support locating your nearest pack.
Large Print Exhibition Text
We have large print guides of our exhibition text. These are available both digitally and printed. You can collect a printed version from our invigilator desk at the entrance of The Gallery.
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