James Lee Byars

From 10 May to 1 September, the Velazquez Palace, located inside El Retiro Park, is hosting an exhibition devoted to one of the most enigmatic and striking figures of 20th century art. The exhibition brings together several works by James Lee Byars, which reveal his profound questioning of everything that exceeds the limits of logic.  

Moving between mysticism, spirituality and corporeality, the visual and performing language of James Lee Byars (Detroit, Michigan, 1932 - El Cairo, 1997) covered sculptures, installations, performance, drawings, words or the mounting of his own exhibitions in the form of installations.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the artist lived between Japan and the United States, which significantly influenced his work. He also maintained close ties with Italy, especially Venice, where he lived and worked in the 1980s.

Byars combined knowledge of Western art and philosophy with elements of nō theatre and Zen Buddhism. His only vision of reality focused on the perfection, cyclicality and dematerialisation of the human figure. He often involved the audience in his temporary actions or large-scale interventions, raising direct or indirect questions.

The exhibition at the Velazquez Palace selects works that combine precious materials, such as marble, silk, gold leaf or crystal, with minimum and archetypical geometries, such as prisms, spheres and pillars.   These pieces propose a play on cross-references between shape and content, inviting us to reflect on the material and the divine.

Image Credits:

• James Lee Byars, The Door of Innocence, 1986-1989 (close-up) and The Figure Question is the Room, 1986 (background). View of the exhibition at Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, Milan, 2023. Courtesy of Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, Milan. Photography: Agostino Osio
• James Lee Byars, Red Angel of Marseille, 1993. Installation view at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2003. Courtesy of Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, Milan. Photography: Agostino Osio