[New York, NY]

I see, said the blind man
May 9, 2018, 6:30 pm
at Anita Rogers Gallery

“I see, said the blind man”An Evening of Readings and Discussion with John Yau, Sophie Seita, Diana Hamilton, James Hoff, Christopher Stackhouse, Matvei Yankelevich, and Barry Schwabsky * 6:30 doors open, 7pm reading & discussion, 8:30 reception * In tandem with the exhibition The Divine Joke, curated by Barry Schwabsky, and in celebration of the recent publication by Ugly Duckling Presse of a new facsimile edition of *The Blind Man*, the renowned little magazine published by the circle around Marcel Duchamp in 1917, Anita Rogers Gallery and Ugly Duckling Presse present an evening of readings and discussion inspired by The Blind Man. Along with Duchamp’s collaborative rongwrong and Man Ray’s Ridgefield Gazook, also reproduced in the new edition of The Blind Man, it was part of a network of little magazines that introduced audiences to avant-garde movements in art and literature; they featured contributions of poetry, prose, and visual art by Mina Loy, Louise Norton, Robert Carlton Brown, Erik Satie, Walter Arensberg, Francis Picabia, Alfred Stieglitz, and others. The Blind Man was the first print publication to circulate an image of Duchamp’s Fountain (photographed by Stieglitz) after its rejection from the first annual exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists, presenting a public challenge to the accepted definition of art during this time. Copies of the new edition of The Blind Man will be on sale at the event. This exhibition title, The Divine Joke, is taken from Mina Loy’s contribution to the first issue of The Blind Man: “The Artist is jolly and quite irresponsible. Art is The Divine Joke, and any Public, and any Artist can see a nice, easy, simple joke, such as the sun; but only artists and serious critics can look at a grayish stickiness on smooth canvas.” The participants will present excerpts from the two issues of the magazine as well as other relevant texts, followed by what promises to be a lively exchange of ideas about the complicated relationship between eye and mind, blindness and insight in contemporary art. More information on the event's Facebook page here.