Ashley Bickerton

I’m not interested in creating one single guillotine-edge of meaning. I’m interested in creating a system of swirling rapids and eddies of meaning that overlap to catch the spectator in between.
—Ashley Bickerton

Gagosian is pleased to announce an exhibition of sculptures and paintings by Ashley Bickerton (1959–2022), including his never-before-seen Blur paintings. Intended as a career overview, the selection of works was made and installation planned by Bickerton during a trip to New York in spring 2022. It is the gallery’s first solo exhibition of Bickerton’s work, and the first since Gagosian announced its representation of the artist in 2022. The presentation of more than twenty-five works opens at 522 West 21st Street in New York on September 8, 2023.

Originally identified with the Neo-conceptualist/Neo-Geo tendencies of late-1980s New York, Bickerton made his name with ironic, abstracted constructions focused on themes of consumerism, identity, and value. When he relocated to the Indonesian island of Bali in 1993, his work took a self-consciously ironic “exotic” turn, its ornate, crafted look contrasting sharply with the conceptual detachment of the artist’s previous output. In the last few years of his life, Bickerton brought his practice full circle, synthesizing its heterogeneous modes into an all-encompassing visual language. His approach and aesthetic have been remarked upon by an intergenerational array of artists including Matthew Barney, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Jordan Wolfson, and this exhibition provides an opportunity to celebrate his legacy and continuing influence.