Extended through September 17, 2016
Works Exhibited
About
Words have these abstract shapes, they live in a world of no size.
—Ed Ruscha
Gagosian is pleased to present LEXICON, an exhibition of artworks that employ the written word.
A lexicon is a stock or inventory of systematized language, whether personal or belonging to a larger cultural context, which can be shared and deployed. Since the beginning of recorded history, language and art have collided and intersected. And from the modern era onward, artists have employed words and language to diverse effect, using writing as both act and subject—in print, light, sculpture, and paint on canvas. Works in the exhibition include Marcel Broodthaers’s Académie I (1968); Alighiero Boetti’s embroidered magic word squares (Arazzi) (1977–92); Ed Ruscha’s large-scale three-part painting A, B, C (1985–87); Jenny Holzer’s stone agit, Selections from the Living Series (Bench #9) (1989); Douglas Gordon’s text work for a television monitor, A moment’s silence (for someone close to you) (1998); Jean-Michel Basquiat’s cultural cryptograms; and Cy Twombly’s abstruse and airy scratchings. Lawrence Weiner has created a new site-responsive version of AT THE SAME MOMENT (2000) for the rue de Ponthieu gallery, and Piero Golia has designed a printed wallpaper especially for the exhibition.
Language and art have never lived too far away from one another: concrete poetry, propaganda, graffiti, and Pop art, among other genres, testify to their dynamic interplay over time. LEXICON presents works by artists who have made language and letters into what poet William Carlos Williams would have referred to as “the thing itself”: language becoming physical object.
The exhibition will include works by Carl Andre, Giovanni Anselmo, Julien Audebert, Robert Barry, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alighiero Boetti, Joe Bradley, Marcel Broodthaers, Robert Filliou, John Giorno, Robert Gober, Piero Golia, Douglas Gordon, Loris Gréaud, Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Emilio Isgrò, Neil Jenney, Jasper Johns, Joseph Kosuth, Barbara Kruger, Claude Lévêque, Glenn Ligon, Adam McEwen, Sarah Morris, Albert Oehlen, Nam June Paik, Steven Parrino, Richard Prince, Sterling Ruby, Ed Ruscha, Cy Twombly, and Lawrence Weiner.
Gagosian est heureuse de présenter LEXICON, une exposition d’œuvres qui font usage des mots.
Un lexicon est un stock ou un inventaire de langage systématisé, qu’il soit personnel ou qu’il fasse partie d’un contexte culturel plus large, qui peut être partagé et développé. Depuis le début de l’histoire connue, le langage et l’art se sont heurtés et croisés. À partir de l’ère moderne, les artistes ont employé les mots et le langage à des fins diverses et variées, utilisant l’écriture à la fois comme action et comme sujet, que ce soit dans les domaines de l’édition, de la lumière, de la sculpture et de la peinture sur toile. Les œuvres de l’exposition comprennent notamment Académie I de Marcel Broodthaers (1968); des œuvres brodées et sur papier d’Alighiero Boetti allant de 1977–92; la peinture monumentale en trois parties d’Ed Ruscha A, B, C (1985–87); Selections from the Living Series (Bench #9), déclaration sur pierre de Jenny Holzer (1989); A moment’s silence (for someone close to you), œuvre textuelle de Douglas Gordon créée pour un écran de télévision (1998); les denses cryptogrammes culturels de Jean-Michel Basquiat; et les traits complexes et aériens de Cy Twombly. Lawrence Weiner a créé une nouvelle version de AT THE SAME MOMENT (2000) pour la galerie rue de Ponthieu, et Piero Golia a dessiné un papier peint spécialement pour l’exposition.
Le langage et l’art n’ont jamais été très loin l’un de l’autre: la poise concrète, la propagande, le graffiti et le Pop Art, parmi d’autres genres, attestent de leur interaction dynamique au fil du temps. LEXICON rassemble des exemples d’artistes qui ont fait du langage et des lettres ce que le poète William Carlos Williams décrit comme «la chose en soi»: le langage devenant un objet physique.
L’exposition comprend des œuvres de Carl Andre, Giovanni Anselmo, Julien Audebert, Robert Barry, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alighiero Boetti, Joe Bradley, Marcel Broodthaers, Robert Filliou, John Giorno, Robert Gober, Piero Golia, Douglas Gordon, Loris Gréaud, Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Emilio Isgrò, Neil Jenney, Jasper Johns, Joseph Kosuth, Barbara Kruger, Claude Lévêque, Glenn Ligon, Adam McEwen, Sarah Morris, Albert Oehlen, Nam June Paik, Steven Parrino, Richard Prince, Sterling Ruby, Ed Ruscha, Cy Twombly, et Lawrence Weiner.
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Artists
Carl Andre
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Alighiero Boetti
Joe Bradley
Robert Gober
Piero Golia
Douglas Gordon
Damien Hirst
Jenny Holzer
Neil Jenney
Jasper Johns
Barbara Kruger
Adam McEwen
Sarah Morris
Albert Oehlen
Nam June Paik
Steven Parrino
Richard Prince
Sterling Ruby
Ed Ruscha
Cy Twombly
Lawrence Weiner
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From the Quarterly
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In Conversation
Cy Twombly: In Beauty it is finished
Mark Francis, director of the exhibition Cy Twombly: In Beauty it is finished, Drawings 1951–2008, describes the impetus for this expansive presentation, the source for its title, and details the stories of some of the works on view.
Cy Twombly: Coronation of Sesostris
Cy Twombly’s Coronation of Sesostris (2000) receives a closer look by Gagosian Director, Mark Francis. In this video, he discusses the history of the work, the myths and poetry embedded within it, and considers its lasting impact.
Douglas Gordon
Katrina Brown discusses the importance of Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho (1993) and some of the films that followed, touching on threads that run throughout the artist’s career.
In Conversation
Ed Ruscha and Joanne Northrup
Ed Ruscha sat down with JoAnne Northrup of the Nevada Museum of Art to discuss the exhibition Unsettled, which the two co-curated.
Art and Food
Mary Ann Caws and Charles Stuckey discuss the presence of food and the dining table in the history of modern art.
Douglas Gordon: I had nowhere to go
Featuring an extensive interview with Douglas Gordon on the process of making his 2016 film I had nowhere to go: Portrait of a displaced person, this video, produced by Berlin Art Link, includes clips of Jonas Mekas and revealing anecdotes about the creation of the film.
