By Proxy - - Exhibitions

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installation view of exhibition entrance

By Proxy 2014 Installation view

By Proxy 2014 Installation view

By Proxy 2014 Installation view

By Proxy 2014 Installation view Artwork by Marcel Duchamp: © Succession Marcel Duchamp / ADAGP, Paris / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 2014

By Proxy 2014 Installation view

By Proxy 2014 Installation view

wall art of a circle, a yellow line, and a red line

SOL LEWITT

Wall Drawing #283, 1976

Red, yellow, and blue crayon

Dimensions variable

JCG7530

Courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

small, white intricately decorated columns

OLIVER LARIC

Yuanmingyuan Columns, 2014

7 3D-printed polyamide columns

Dimensions variable

JCG7506

Installation view at Entrée, Bergen, Norway.

Photo: Bent René Synnevåg. Image courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin

yellow line with text underneath it drawn directly on the wall

SOL LEWITT Wall Drawing #283 (detail), 1976 Red, yellow, and blue crayon Dimensions variable Courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

straight, yellow line and a curved, blue line with text surrounding it drawn directly on the wall

SOL LEWITT Wall Drawing #283 (detail), 1976 Red, yellow, and blue crayon Dimensions variable Courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

text next to a red line drawn directly on the wall

SOL LEWITT Wall Drawing #283 (detail), 1976 Red, yellow, and blue crayon Dimensions variable Courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

JOHN CAGE

River Rocks and Smoke, 4/12/90, #11, 1990

Watercolor on Waterford cold press 260 lb. paper prepared with fire and smoke

26.5 x 39.5 in.

67.3 x 100.3 cm

JCG7489

Courtesy of Margarete Roeder Gallery and the John Cage Trust

JOHN CAGE

River Rocks and Smoke, 4/13/90, #19, 1990

Watercolor on Arches cold press paper prepared with fire and smoke

52.5 x 15 in.

133.3 x 38.1 cm

JCG7489

Courtesy of Margarete Roeder Gallery and the John Cage Trust

JOHN CAGE

River Rocks and Smoke, 4/13/90, #3, 1990

Watercolor on Arches cold press paper prepared with fire and smoke

52.5 x 15 in

133.3 x 38.1 cm

JCG7491

Courtesy of Margarete Roeder Gallery and the John Cage Trust

WADE GUYTON

Untitled, 2007

Epson UltraChrome inkjet on linen

84 x 69 in.

213.4 x 175.3 cm

JCG7526

Image courtesy of Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York

open book in a corner table with gloves set beside it

LEE MINGWEI

Through Master's Eyes, 2014

Case-bound accordion book with thirteen color plates

16 x 11 x 2 1/2 in.

40.6 x 27.9 x 6.3 cm

JCG7522.EX

two white wooden chairs, a white wooden table, and white chess pieces

YOKO ONO

Play It By Trust (Roskilde Version), 1966/2002

Wood chairs, table, and chess pieces

Each Chair: 18 x 16 x 54 in. (45.72 x 40.64 x 137.16 cm)

Table: 30 x 36 x 29 in. (76.2 x 91.44 x 73.66 cm)

JCG7528.X

Installation view at Roskilde, Denmark. Photo: Flemming Rasmussen. Image courtesy of the artist

a figure holding a pencil in one hand and a sock puppet in the other; below it there is another canvas with a figure casting a fishnet

FRANCIS ALŸS

Titere, 1997

Mixed media

52 x 48 in.

132.1 x 121.9 cm

JCG3550

JON RAFMAN

Eshamy Loop, Whittier, United States, 2013

Archival pigment print mounted on dibond

40 x 64 in.

101.6 x 162.6 cm

Edition of 1 + 1 AP

JCG7497.1

Courtesy of the artist and Zach Feuer Gallery, New York

JOHN RAFMAN

69 Avenue Winston Churchill, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, 2009

Archival pigment print mounted on dibond

40 x 64 inches

101.6 x 162.6 cm

Edition of 1 + 1 AP

JCG7495

Courtesy of the artist and Zach Feuer Gallery, New York

photograph of a horse looking through trash

JON RAFMAN

Rua Monte Castelo Duque de Caxias Brasil, 2010

Archival pigment print mounted on dibond

40 x 64 inches

101.6 x 162.6 cm

Edition of 1 + 1 AP

JCG7496

Courtesy of the artist and Zach Feuer Gallery, New York

photograph of a fallen child surrounded by her peers

JON RAFMAN

932 Loma Larga, Santa Catarina, NL, México, 2009

Archival pigment print mounted on dibond

40 x 64 inches

101.6 x 162.6 cm

Edition of 1 + 1 AP

JCG7494

Courtesy of the artist and Zach Feuer Gallery, New York

MARIAH ROBERTSON

247, 2014

Unique chemical treatment on RA-4 paper

96 x 72 inches

243.8 x 182.9 cm

JCG7519

Courtesy of the artist and American Contemporary, New York

SIEBREN VERSTEEG

Clearcache33_11600x16000_00016, 2014

Algorithmically generated image printed on canvas

74 x 55 inches

188 x 139.7 cm

JCG7520

Courtesy of the artist

blurred painting of a girl's face next to a humanoid statuette

SIEBREN VERSTEEG

LIKE, 2014

Internet connected computer program with real-time recursive image searching output to 46" LED monitor

42 x 25 inches

106.7 x 63.5 cm

Edition of 5

JCG7521

Courtesy of the artist

abstract painting next to a picture of a girl holding a poodle

SIEBREN VERSTEEG

LIKE, 2014

Internet connected computer program with real-time recursive image searching output to 46" LED monitor

42 x 25 inches

106.7 x 63.5 cm

Edition of 5

JCG7521

Courtesy of the artist

classical style painting with a near naked woman holding an object emitting a great source of light

XU ZHEN

Light Source -- Bathsheba Holding King David's Letter, 2014

Oil on canvas

33.8 x 38.6 inches

86 x 98 cm

JCG7492

Image courtesy of James Cohan Gallery, New York / Shanghai

Greek marble sculpture upside down connected to the statue of a Buddha via the neck

XU ZHEN

Eternity-Aphrodite of Knidos, Tang Dynasty Sitting Buddha, 2014

Glass fiber-reinforced concrete, marble grains, sandstone grains, mineral pigments, steel

139.7 x 35.8 x 35.8 inches

355 x 91 x 91 cm

Edition of 3

JCG7402

Image courtesy of James Cohan Gallery, New York / Shanghai

a wall drawing that seems to be made of dots and shaped into a perfect square

SOL LEWITT

Wall Drawing #59, 1970

Black pencil

120 x 120 in.

304.8 x 304.8 cm

JCG7529

Courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

SOL LEWITT Wall Drawing #59 (detail), 1970 Black pencil 120 x 120 in. (304.8 x 304.8 cm) Courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Press Release

OLIVER LARIC, Yuanmingyuan Columns, 2014. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin.

By Proxy is an exhibition of the instances when an idea needs more than just an artist to take form.

Marcel Duchamp called it "aesthetic osmosis", the process by which an artist, through an artwork, transfers responsibility and agency to a viewer. A viewer's position — where they're coming from — shaped the final meaning of many of Duchamp's works. His revolutionary idea gave viewers authority to complete the process he had started. His objects, "through the change from inert matter into a work of art", were evidence of the strength of this shared enterprise.

In the century since, production, outsourcing, interaction and appropriation have
become mainstream modes of artistic expression; the shared enterprise has become a
fragmented contract between the artist and other factors, not simply between the artist and the viewer. An artwork's form and meaning take shape outside the artist's hands in countless ways: in context, fabrication, tools, reproduction.

By Proxy is an exhibition in which technology, other artisans, context, chance and culture have a role in the making of the work. The exhibition takes an interest in the primacy of an idea, the possibilities of that idea as it moves through its making, and the resulting object. It pays tribute to the purity of good ideas and the inherent peculiarity and magic of every collaboration, with the proof in the pudding.

The exhibition will include artists incorporating work from the past century to the present day. Artists include Francis Alÿs, Alighiero Boetti, John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Wade Guyton, Oliver Laric, Lee Mingwei, Sol LeWitt, Yoko Ono, Jon Rafman, Mariah Robertson, Siebren Versteeg, and Xu Zhen.

XU ZHEN, produced by MadeIn Company, Eternity-‐‑Aphrodite of Knidos, Tang Dynasty Sitting Buddha, 2014

BY PROXY

November 20 – January 31, 2015

Opening Reception: Thursday, November 20, 6 – 8 PM

James Cohan Gallery is pleased to present a group exhibition entitled By Proxy, opening on November 20th, 2014 and running through January 31st, 2015.

Marcel Duchamp called it "aesthetic osmosis," the process by which an artist transfers responsibility to a viewer, empowering them to complete the work out in the world. This idea, of art as shared enterprise, is the theme of this exhibition. Here, the word proxy encompasses the tools and techniques that complete artworks away from the artist’s hand. This exhibition is concerned with those tools and techniques, the effects they can have, and the instances when an idea calls for more than just the artist to take form.

Production, outsourcing, interactivity and appropriation have become increasingly mainstream modes of artistic expression over the past 100 years. The shared enterprise, in which the artist somehow cedes responsibility for the final work, now takes many forms: from fabrication and machines to chance, games, relational practice and the increasingly fertile landscape of the internet. By Proxy includes Marcel Duchamp’s assisted readymade With Hidden Noise, a ball of string with an unknown object rattling inside it; embroidery works by Alighiero Boetti; three drawings from John Cage’s 1990 series River Rocks and Smoke, in which chance operations are performed by smoke settling in the fibers of the paper; Oliver Laric’s Yuanmingyuan Columns, a new work created with 3D scans of Chinese cultural artifacts ensconced in Bergen, Norway; Yoko Ono’s seminal chess set and war allegory Play it By Trust; and a work from Xu Zhen’s recent Eternity series, which juxtaposes the East and West by mounting headless replicas of key Hellenistic and Buddhist sculptures neck to neck.

The exhibition will incorporate work from the past century to the present day. Participating artists are Francis Alÿs, Alighiero Boetti, John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Wade Guyton, Oliver Laric, Lee Mingwei, Sol LeWitt, Yoko Ono, Jon Rafman, Mariah Robertson, Siebren Versteeg and Xu Zhen. A full color, 24-page brochure with an accompanying text will be available for free at the gallery.

For press inquiries, please contact Jane Cohan at jane@jamescohan.com or 212-714-9500.

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