James Lee Byars

James Lee Byars, Untitled, 1983

James Lee Byars (1932–1997), was one the most influential conceptual artists of his generation, creating works in performance, installation, sculpture and drawing. Born in Detroit, Michigan, where he studied philosophy, art and psychology, he travelled frequently to Japan between the years 1958 and 1967, studying traditional Japanese writing, craft and Noh theatre, the latter having a particularly strong influence on him.

Works

Untitled
The Moon Books
The Poetic Conceit
The Book of the 100 Perfects
The Spinning Oracle of Delfi
The Chair of Transformation
The Unicorn Horn in the white circle
Untitled (Hello Marcel)
BYARS
1 LOVELY JULE 2 I’M SORRY AB 3 OUT THE GOLDEN 4 TOWER PERHAPS 5 IT CAN GO ON 6 AS ....  14 A VERY HUMANIC 15 INTIMACY YOURS B.

James Lee Byars

The Chair of Transformation
The Chair of Transformation
The Chair of Transformation
The Chair of Transformation
The Chair of Transformation, 1989
17th century chair, red silk tent
Red silk tent 300 x 300 x 300 cm | 118 x 118 x 118 in. Chair 102 x 89 x 87 cm | 40 x 35 x 34 in.