INVITATION TO THE EXHIBITION OF JAMES LEE ... Unique Invitation Art Object.

(Berlin).. 2 sheets of tissue. (c. 90 x 155 mm when folded).. 1 long sheet of pink tissue paper with manuscript text by James Lee Byars in white recto, the sheet has been folded 8 times and is housed within a piece of black tissue. A beautiful example of a James Lee Byars' unique invitation art object executed in white pencil on pink tissue paper.The invitation reads as follows: 'INVITATION TO THE EXHIBITION OF JAMES LEE AND BB WATCHING THE AMERHAUS FROM 11/11 FROM 1 TO 2 PM.' 'BB' refers to Byars' girlfriend Birgit Grögel.James Lee Byars (1932 - 1997), an artist with important Conceptual and Fluxus associations, was known to refer to himself as the 'World's Most Famous Unknown Artist'. Byars is often grouped with Duchamp, Broodthaers and Beuys in that his work is often in opposition to the idea of art as object although Byars maintained - with typical alliterative flair - his most important influences were 'Einstein, Gertrude Stein and Wittgenstein' (later 'Einstein, Gertrude Stein, Wittgenstein and Frankenstein'). His work, much of it based in performance and pageant, defies characterisation, however, his preoccupation with paper, cloth and other ephemeral material has ensured that much of his art falls into less traditional categories. An important part of Byars' oeuvre, influenced by his years living in Japan and the resulting interest in Japanese paper, calligraphy and origami, was the letter as art work, the object and idea in harmony, and the example presented here, is delightfully representative.'Byars did, however, maintain communication with many important people in the art world, by means of an artistic correspondence that seems to have been his most consistent practise as an artist. Nearly every day, before dawn, he would rise and begin writing his spectacular letters ... They were an extension of the Byars persona, even mirroring his costumes in their strict use of a few select colours and shapes. They were simply mystifying, difficult to read, confusing in their syntax even where legible; Byars was unknown because he was unknowable. One might delight in (or be maddened by) the experience of unfolding a fifty foot long piece of pink tissue paper, only to find the gold writing nearly indecipherable, and the message as much a poetic epigram as a personal communication. One is meant to experience the letters as an aesthetic occasion ... '. (Taken from a contemporary review in Frieze magazine of the exhibition 'James Lee Byars: Letters from the World's Most Famous Unknown Artist').