From DADA to Ta-da!
Group Show
June 23rd - August 20th, 2017
Fisher Parrish Gallery
New York
NEVERMADE: (neh’fer-maid) n. It: No Gracie fae! Fr. Jamais réalisé 1. To repurpose or recycle an existing artwork (object, concept, ornament, decoration) as a unique consumer product - one that performs a particular operative function or purpose, void of any symbolism, resisting interpretation, and abandoning any former inherent significance or greater meaning. 2. The act of extracting meaning and designating utility. 3. The result of revoking/demoting/upgrading/cartwheeling the status of an existing artwork, and reincarnating in the form of an object/product/tool with use value. 4. A conceptual exercise in language and appropriation meant to explore the concept of art as commodity. 5. Converting SIGN into THING.
Synonym: Reciprocal Readymade
Antonym: Readymade - a functional, household item rendered useless in the context of an “artwork”.
Examples: 1. “This exhibition of Nevermades is literally full of one liners.” 2. “Thanks to my brand new Nevermade, never again will I have to tolerate that useless Cady Noland sculpture that just stares back at me disapprovingly.”
100 years ago, Duchamp debuted his iconoclastic readymade, Fountain, challenging the art world’s pious definition of high art, and effectively paving the way for a century of conceptual art. Conversely, his idea of a “Reciprocal Readymade: Turn a Rembrandt into an ironing board”, was never realized and existed only as a theoretical concept.
But can art be recycled? Is contemporary art a first-world indulgence? Is anything really void of symbolism? In 2017, the urgency to draw a line in the sand between form and function seems less dire, but also more complicated. For this exhibition, a group of artists and thinkers have been challenged to determine if a Reciprocal Readymade or “Nevermade” can be realized, and explore what further complications this exercise could elicit. As the analog world fades fruther into oblivion, with artwork becoming more immaterial and artist’s embracing new technologies, will the distinction between artwork and utility— like reality and simulation — become equally indistinguishable?
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Artists:
Atelier Van Lieshout – Casey Jane Ellison – Daniel Klaas Beckwith – Eric Wesley George Henry Longly – Jack Chiles – Justin Lowe & Jonah Freeman – Jes Fan – Joe Kay Kenneth Goldsmith – Kyla Chevrier – Lloyd Corporation – Lucas Zallmann – MarieVic Nathaniel deLarge – Nick Van Woert – Sarah Meyohas – Tschabalala Self
Synonym: Reciprocal Readymade
Antonym: Readymade - a functional, household item rendered useless in the context of an “artwork”.
Examples: 1. “This exhibition of Nevermades is literally full of one liners.” 2. “Thanks to my brand new Nevermade, never again will I have to tolerate that useless Cady Noland sculpture that just stares back at me disapprovingly.”
100 years ago, Duchamp debuted his iconoclastic readymade, Fountain, challenging the art world’s pious definition of high art, and effectively paving the way for a century of conceptual art. Conversely, his idea of a “Reciprocal Readymade: Turn a Rembrandt into an ironing board”, was never realized and existed only as a theoretical concept.
But can art be recycled? Is contemporary art a first-world indulgence? Is anything really void of symbolism? In 2017, the urgency to draw a line in the sand between form and function seems less dire, but also more complicated. For this exhibition, a group of artists and thinkers have been challenged to determine if a Reciprocal Readymade or “Nevermade” can be realized, and explore what further complications this exercise could elicit. As the analog world fades fruther into oblivion, with artwork becoming more immaterial and artist’s embracing new technologies, will the distinction between artwork and utility— like reality and simulation — become equally indistinguishable?
-----
Artists:
Atelier Van Lieshout – Casey Jane Ellison – Daniel Klaas Beckwith – Eric Wesley George Henry Longly – Jack Chiles – Justin Lowe & Jonah Freeman – Jes Fan – Joe Kay Kenneth Goldsmith – Kyla Chevrier – Lloyd Corporation – Lucas Zallmann – MarieVic Nathaniel deLarge – Nick Van Woert – Sarah Meyohas – Tschabalala Self
