It Is What It Is. Or Is It?

In 1914, Marcel Duchamp purchased a bottle rack, called it a sculpture, put his name to it and the “readymade” artwork was born. It Is What It Is. Or Is It? considers the legacy of the readymade in contemporary artistic practice as the form approaches its 100th anniversary and attempts to recuperate the radicality of Duchamp’s foundational gesture. Taking stock of the readymade’s simple materiality and its economy of means, this catalogue includes work by 18 artists working in a variety of media from sculpture to photography, painting, video and installation-based works. It Is What It Is. Or Is It? includes works by Ellen Altfest, Fayçal Baghriche, Bill Bollinger, William Cordova, Latifa Echakhch, Daphne Fitzpatrick, Claire Fontaine, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Rachel Hecker, Jamie Isenstein, Luis Jacob, Patrick Killoran, Jirí Kovanda, Klara Lidén, Catherine Murphy and Pratchaya Phinthong.

In 1914, Marcel Duchamp purchased a bottle rack, called it a sculpture, put his name to it and the “readymade” artwork was born. It Is What It Is. Or Is It? considers the legacy of the readymade in contemporary artistic practice as the form approaches its 100th anniversary and attempts to recuperate the radicality of Duchamp’s foundational gesture. Taking stock of the readymade’s simple materiality and its economy of means, this catalogue includes work by 18 artists working in a variety of media from sculpture to photography, painting, video and installation-based works. It Is What It Is. Or Is It? includes works by Ellen Altfest, Fayçal Baghriche, Bill Bollinger, William Cordova, Latifa Echakhch, Daphne Fitzpatrick, Claire Fontaine, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Rachel Hecker, Jamie Isenstein, Luis Jacob, Patrick Killoran, Jirí Kovanda, Klara Lidén, Catherine Murphy and Pratchaya Phinthong.