In case you are using the default Article Alias field, you should use #art_alias#, similarly for all "derived" fields, you have to use the alias of the field. If you create another field, your field storage have to be defined as Standard|Article|alias.
The documentation mentions the @alias() variant, which you might use as @alias(art_id), provided art_id is present in the layout. That will, however, perform another query on articles, so it might take a little longer with increasing number of articles.
If it still does not show, even after using other variations, I think you better contact Simon.