JAMES LEE BYARS AT PIRELLI HANGARBICOCCA, MILAN, ITALY
12 OCT 2023 – 18 FEB 2024
The first retrospective exhibition of James Lee Byars in an Italian Museum gathers his most emblematic works that blend geometric and minimal forms with materials such as marble, velvet, precious woods and gold-leaf.
James Lee Byars Exhibition view at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2023 Courtesy Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, Photo: Agostino Osio
James Lee Byars, 'Byars is Elephant’, 1997
Installation view at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2023 Pinault Collection, Courtesy Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan. Photo: Agostino Osio
“We usually conceive site-specific retrospectives that dialogue with the architecture of Pirelli HangarBicocca. In his practice James Lee Byars used to adapt his corpus of works to the space in which it was displayed, thus creating an exhibition that was an overall installation in itself. Therefore, our selection of artworks interacts with the former-industrial building of the Navate, challenging us to interpret the space according to the artist’s own conceptual approach.”
- Vicente TodolíJames Lee Byars, 'The Diamond Floor', 1995
Installation view at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2023, The Estate of James Lee Byars and Michael Werner Gallery, New York, London and Berlin.Courtesy Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan
Photo: Agostino Osio
James Lee Byars, 'The Moon Books', 1988-89
Installation view at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2023 Paris Musées/Musée d’Art Moderne. Courtesy Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan. Photo: Agostino Osio
Curated by Vicente Todolí, organised by Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid (where a version of the exhibition project will be presented from April 25 to September 1, 2024, at the Palacio de Velázquez), the exhibition sheds light on the artist, whose work combines motifs and symbols from Eastern cultures, such as Nô Theatre and Zen Buddhism, together with his profound knowledge of Western art and philosophy.
James Lee Byars, Red Angel of Marseille, 1993 Installation view at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2023, FNAC 99316, Centre national des arts plastiques. On deposit at Centre Pompidou, Paris
Courtesy Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan. Photo: Agostino Osio