James Lee Byars: Perfect Moments Exhibition – Exploring Conceptual Art & Ephemeral Communication

This exhibition pays homage to the conceptual artist James Lee Byars, showcasing documents, objects, and ephemera that explore his artistic philosophy. It highlights his poetic engagement with perfection, immateriality, and ephemeral communication through letters and everyday items.

The exhibition 'Perfect Moments. Ideentausch mit Gerhard Johann Lischka' is a tribute to James Lee Byars (1932–1997), a pivotal conceptual artist known for his performances and his exploration of immateriality. Byars navigated the boundaries between conceptual, minimal, and performance art, with his works poetically addressing the pursuit of the perfect and the ephemeral. This exhibition, held in the Graphic Cabinet of the Secession, focuses on his extensive use of written communication. Visitors can expect to see a range of documents, from small notes on everyday materials like napkins and plant leaves to lengthy letters on silk and Japanese paper. The display also includes postcards Byars sent to friends during his travels, invitation cards, and small objects from his performances, such as a gold leaf imprinted with 'Harry.' These pieces exemplify Byars's unique approach to personal communication and performance art, characterized by his ornamental script, predominantly uppercase letters, and the use of colors like gold, red, pink, black, or white, often filled with decorative elements like hearts and stars. The exhibited items illustrate James Lee Byars's virtuosic thinking through his dialogue with Bernese artist-philosopher Gerhard Johann Lischka, with pieces drawn from the collection of Marianne Milani. Lischka and Milani were among Byars's recipients in Bern, where he became an integral part of the art scene in the early 1970s. Lischka recalls encountering Byars at Documenta 5 and their subsequent correspondence, which led to the realization of Byars's ideas, often documented on paper. These exchanges culminated in works like 'A 100 Moments Make a Moment Theory' (1975–76). Byars's communication style was distinctive, with messages often condensed into simple yet profound statements on paper, delivered in an immediate and performative manner. His presence was consistently performative, characterized by a constant state of 'transmission and reception,' 'giving and receiving,' driven by an insatiable curiosity to understand, experience, and share.

Information and tickets for exhibitions can be found via the provided link to the ticketing shop. General museum opening hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 10 AM to 6 PM.