James Lee Byars was born in Detroit in 1932. An early interest in sculpture and oriental art took him to Japan and the far East before returning to Europe and creating a strong body of work which might be regarded as “romantic minimalism”. By the 1970s he was regarded as one of the USA’s most important conceptual artists.
He was best known for a series of slight performance art actions (such as giving a brief smile to the world after emerging from a museum window) as well as very large and very small sculptural works. The use of paper (and particularly unusual papers) in editions and printed material was also a regular motif. Some of Byars’ works are just a few millimetres in size, others were the size of entire streets.
Byars also created unique letters for many of his friends and these constructions – often written in an unusual “starry” hand – are usually regarded as unique works by the artist on par with his sculptures. They are keenly collected.
Byars suddenly died in Cairo in 1997. His grave is a simple one – and its monument does not match the artist’s pure aesthetic – a final irony.
n.p. (Münster): n.p. (Westfälischen Kunstverein), n.d. (1982) 23.7cm diameter black paper circle with the text "THE BLACK PAPER ON ART" printed in gold in the centre of the sheet. Published during the exhibition "James Lee Byars at Westfälischen Kunstverein, Munster from 18 luglio - 26 settembre 1982. VG+. Scarce.
12.5 x 24cm, silver gelatine print showing Byars and Beuys cavorting on a dark oval shape at Dokumenta 7 at the opening of the exhibition Sammlung Speck in March, 1983. Byars is wearing a top hat and has his face covered by a black scarf. Taken by Benjamin Katz. Possibly unique. VG+.
Eindhoven: Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, 1983 16.5 x 16.5 x 16.5cm, cubic artists’ book content of 924pp. Self cover. Texts by James Lee Byars and Piet de Jonghe. Some b/w illustrations of works., The famous artist’s book issued in 500 copies on the occasion of the exhibition held at the Stedelijk van Abbemuseum. VG+.
Lorsfeld: Schloss Lorsfeld, 1984 27 x 27 cm, unpaginated (c.100pp) plus (double) card covers. An exhibition curated by Jule Werner in 1983 in the setting of the German castle. Original full color plates of numerous artist’s ‘paravents’ (screens used to allow the changing of clothes without a lack of modesty) created by Erik Andriesse, James Lee Byars, Eli Content, William Copley, Rene Daniels, Marlene Dumas, Antonius Hockelmann, Jorg Immendorff, Anselm Kiefer, Per Kirkeby, Imi Knoebel, Hendrik Krawen, Markus Lupertz, Stephen McKenna, A.R. Penck, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Andreas Schulze, Seton Smith. Each artist’s work is included with a full colour image although Byar’s is a more conceptual work and the images are from his starry drawings. Fine.
Firenze: Zona Archives Outside Projects, 1985 10.5 x 15cm, 1pp. Announcement card for a series of installations placed in “secret” throughout Florence. Other artists include Daniel Buren, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Terry Fox, General Idea, Jenny Hozer, Barbara Kruger, Sol Lewitt, Maurizio Nannucci and Lawrence Weiner. Fine.
NYC: Mary Boone, 1985 27.5 x 23.5cm, 20pp + 2pp black endpapers and card covers also in black with gold foil stamping. Exhibition catalogue displaying four works all full colour and one double page and a full page photographic portrait of Byars wearing his gold suit while standing on rocks. Short essay by Remo Guidieri. Very good +.
