Menu

Extended through September 17, 2016

LEXICON

A group exhibition of text-based works

June 1–September 17, 2016
rue de Ponthieu, Paris

Installation view Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Installation view

Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Installation view Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Installation view

Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Installation view Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Installation view

Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Installation view Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Installation view

Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Installation view Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Installation view

Photo: Zarko Vijatovic

Works Exhibited

Albert Oehlen, I 11, 2009 Paper on canvas, 66 ⅞ × 90 ½ inches (170 × 230 cm)© Albert Oehlen

Albert Oehlen, I 11, 2009

Paper on canvas, 66 ⅞ × 90 ½ inches (170 × 230 cm)
© Albert Oehlen

Nam June Paik, Untitled, 1998 Acrylic on canvas, 67 × 46 inches (170.2 × 116.8 cm)© Nam June Paik Estate. Photo: Ben Blackwell

Nam June Paik, Untitled, 1998

Acrylic on canvas, 67 × 46 inches (170.2 × 116.8 cm)
© Nam June Paik Estate. Photo: Ben Blackwell

Richard Prince, Untitled (Joke), 2011 Inkjet print on canvas, 58 × 78 ¾ inches (147.3 × 200 cm)© Richard Prince. Photo: Rob McKeever

Richard Prince, Untitled (Joke), 2011

Inkjet print on canvas, 58 × 78 ¾ inches (147.3 × 200 cm)
© Richard Prince. Photo: Rob McKeever

Ed Ruscha, A, 1985–87 Acrylic on canvas, in 3 parts, each: 66 ¼ × 137 ¼ inches (168.3 × 348.6 cm)© Ed Ruscha. Photo: Paul Ruscha

Ed Ruscha, A, 1985–87

Acrylic on canvas, in 3 parts, each: 66 ¼ × 137 ¼ inches (168.3 × 348.6 cm)
© Ed Ruscha. Photo: Paul Ruscha

About

Words have these abstract shapes, they live in a world of no size.
—Ed Ruscha

Gagosian is pleased to present LEXICON, an exhibition of artworks that employ the written word.

A lexicon is a stock or inventory of systematized language, whether personal or belonging to a larger cultural context, which can be shared and deployed. Since the beginning of recorded history, language and art have collided and intersected. And from the modern era onward, artists have employed words and language to diverse effect, using writing as both act and subject—in print, light, sculpture, and paint on canvas. Works in the exhibition include Marcel Broodthaers’s Académie I (1968); Alighiero Boetti’s embroidered magic word squares (Arazzi) (1977–92); Ed Ruscha’s large-scale three-part painting A, B, C (1985–87); Jenny Holzer’s stone agit, Selections from the Living Series (Bench #9) (1989); Douglas Gordon’s text work for a television monitor, A moment’s silence (for someone close to you) (1998); Jean-Michel Basquiat’s cultural cryptograms; and Cy Twombly’s abstruse and airy scratchings. Lawrence Weiner has created a new site-responsive version of AT THE SAME MOMENT (2000) for the rue de Ponthieu gallery, and Piero Golia has designed a printed wallpaper especially for the exhibition.

Language and art have never lived too far away from one another: concrete poetry, propaganda, graffiti, and Pop art, among other genres, testify to their dynamic interplay over time. LEXICON presents works by artists who have made language and letters into what poet William Carlos Williams would have referred to as “the thing itself”: language becoming physical object.

The exhibition will include works by Carl Andre, Giovanni Anselmo, Julien Audebert, Robert Barry, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alighiero Boetti, Joe Bradley, Marcel Broodthaers, Robert Filliou, John Giorno, Robert Gober, Piero Golia, Douglas Gordon, Loris Gréaud, Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Emilio Isgrò, Neil Jenney, Jasper Johns, Joseph Kosuth, Barbara Kruger, Claude Lévêque, Glenn Ligon, Adam McEwen, Sarah Morris, Albert Oehlen, Nam June Paik, Steven Parrino, Richard Prince, Sterling Ruby, Ed Ruscha, Cy Twombly, and Lawrence Weiner.

Gagosian est heureuse de présenter LEXICON, une exposition d’œuvres qui font usage des mots.

Un lexicon est un stock ou un inventaire de langage systématisé, qu’il soit personnel ou qu’il fasse partie d’un contexte culturel plus large, qui peut être partagé et développé. Depuis le début de l’histoire connue, le langage et l’art se sont heurtés et croisés. À partir de l’ère moderne, les artistes ont employé les mots et le langage à des fins diverses et variées, utilisant l’écriture à la fois comme action et comme sujet, que ce soit dans les domaines de l’édition, de la lumière, de la sculpture et de la peinture sur toile. Les œuvres de l’exposition comprennent notamment Académie I de Marcel Broodthaers (1968); des œuvres brodées et sur papier d’Alighiero Boetti allant de 1977–92; la peinture monumentale en trois parties d’Ed Ruscha A, B, C (1985–87); Selections from the Living Series (Bench #9), déclaration sur pierre de Jenny Holzer (1989); A moment’s silence (for someone close to you), œuvre textuelle de Douglas Gordon créée pour un écran de télévision (1998); les denses cryptogrammes culturels de Jean-Michel Basquiat; et les traits complexes et aériens de Cy Twombly. Lawrence Weiner a créé une nouvelle version de AT THE SAME MOMENT (2000) pour la galerie rue de Ponthieu, et Piero Golia a dessiné un papier peint spécialement pour l’exposition.

Le langage et l’art n’ont jamais été très loin l’un de l’autre: la poise concrète, la propagande, le graffiti et le Pop Art, parmi d’autres genres, attestent de leur interaction dynamique au fil du temps. LEXICON rassemble des exemples d’artistes qui ont fait du langage et des lettres ce que le poète William Carlos Williams décrit comme «la chose en soi»: le langage devenant un objet physique.

L’exposition comprend des œuvres de Carl Andre, Giovanni Anselmo, Julien Audebert, Robert Barry, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alighiero Boetti, Joe Bradley, Marcel Broodthaers, Robert Filliou, John Giorno, Robert Gober, Piero Golia, Douglas Gordon, Loris Gréaud, Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Emilio Isgrò, Neil Jenney, Jasper Johns, Joseph Kosuth, Barbara Kruger, Claude Lévêque, Glenn Ligon, Adam McEwen, Sarah Morris, Albert Oehlen, Nam June Paik, Steven Parrino, Richard Prince, Sterling Ruby, Ed Ruscha, Cy Twombly, et Lawrence Weiner.

Cover of Gagosian Quarterly, Spring 2024, featuring Jean-Michel Basquiat Cover

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Spring 2024

The Spring 2024 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available with a fresh cover design featuring Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Lead Plate with Hole (1984).

Installation view with Douglas Gordon, Pretty much every film and video work from about 1992 until now... (1999–)

Douglas Gordon: To Sing

On the occasion of Douglas Gordon: All I need is a little bit of everything, an exhibition in London, curator Adam Szymczyk recounts his experiences with Gordon’s work across nearly three decades, noting the continuities and evolutions.

Portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat sitting inside his studio and in front of his paintings

Jean-Michel Basquiat: Los Angeles

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s sisters, Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, met with filmmaker Tamra Davis, art dealer Larry Gagosian, and author and curator Fred Hoffman to reflect on their experiences with the artist during the 1980s in Los Angeles.

still from video of eyeball

Douglas Gordon: if when why what

Douglas Gordon took over the Piccadilly Lights advertising screen in London’s Piccadilly Circus, as well as a global network of screens in cities including Berlin, Melbourne, Milan, New York, and Seoul, nightly for three minutes at 20:22 (8:22pm) throughout December 2022, with his new film, if when why what (2018–22). The project was presented by the Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Art (CIRCA) in conjunction with the exhibition Douglas Gordon: Neon Ark at Gagosian, Davies Street, London.

Roe Ethridge's Two Kittens with Yarn Ball (2017–22) on the cover of Gagosian Quarterly, Spring 2023

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Spring 2023

The Spring 2023 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Roe Ethridge’s Two Kittens with Yarn Ball (2017–22) on its cover.

Adam McEwen and Ian Penman seated in yellow chairs

In Conversation
Adam McEwen and Ian Penman

In conjunction with his exhibitions Adam McEwen at Gagosian in London, and Adam McEwen: XXIII at Gagosian in Rome, the artist sits down with author Ian Penman to discuss his new obituary works and graphite sculptures.