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.
Paris: Gallimard, 1925/1985
23.5 x 18.5cm, 84pp. Original wrappers. The first edition of this collection of texts by the poet issued in an edition of 850 copies by Byars’ favourite publisher. An uncut copy but pages are browned. One the first page Byars has appropriated the book by adding the text “I GIVE YOU GENIUS AGAIN!” in red ink in his starry hand. VG. Unique thus.
c. 1985 18 x 24cm, 1pp. Original b/w image of the artist in Dusseldorf (outside the KAI Museum) talking to two young people.. Byars is in his gold coat and wearing his black top hat. Fine. On r everse is the copyright for Heinz-Gunter Mebusch. No date but probably c. 1985.
UNIQUE LETTER ON INDIAN PAPER 21 x 18cm. Unique hand drawn letter – red ink on a gold and red piece of Indian parchment, The text in Byars’ starry hand is hard to read but seems to be Lols – which is possible as the earliest use of that acronym was in the 1980s rather than later. Fine although slight scratches on the printed gold area.
Byars, James Lee THE PHILOSOPHICAL PALACE. 1986. Düsseldorf: Städtische Kunsthalle, 1986 26 x 18cm, gold cardboard slipcase content of a 25.5 x 17.5cm, 148pp book with gold embossed black boards. Exhibition catalogue for the “James Lee Byars, Palace of Philosophy” exhibition. Texts in English and German. Illustrated throughout in colour and b/w. Fine. INSERTED Byars, James Lee THE SPINNING ORACLE….. N.p. (Dusseldorf): n.p., n.d.d (1986) 30 x 21cm, 2pp. Gold on black printed text in Byars’ facsimile hand on one side and a text in German (printed in a typographic font) on the other. Folded with two horizontal creases. Scarce ephemera / print.
Munchen: Stadtische Galerie Im Lenbachhaus, 1986 10.5 x 15cm, 2pp announcement card with a photograph of Byars in performance (A Perfect Death) and verso gallery details. This performance was made in honoiur of Beuys who had recently died in January 1986. VG+.
n.p.: n.p., n.d. (1986?) 26 x 19.5cm, 1pp black on white offset. A single sheet reproducing a work by Byars in honour of Beuys. We cannot find a reference for this work but it may have been made after Beuys died suddenly in January 1986. Byars and Beuys were friends for nearly 20 years and regularly corresponded. This has stapled holes along the top and some closed tears and former creases. It was found stapled into one of James Collins' diaries (1986) in his archives.
Koln: Michael Werner, 2986 35 x 60cm, b/w exhibition poster with an especially drawn graphic by Immendorff showing all of the participating artists in a scene - Broodthaers being dead by this point is sitting at a table aloof, James Lee Byars is standing near one of his sculptures at the back of the scene while Baselitz is working on a sculpture swinging an axe wildly, the others are also making art. The best of ephemera. Foled several times for mailing else VG+.
Bonn: Raum 41, 1986
21 x 15cm, 2pp announcement leaflet for a photographic edition by Franz Fischer of an image of Beuys and James Lee Byars shown from above to only see their respective headgear - Beuys's hat and Byars' top hat. Posthumous to Beuys of course but not Byars. VG+.
