At a glance
Explore how six decades of everyday objects—from dried beans to paper weavings—transformed into the radical scripts and tactile sculptures that defined the New York avant-garde.
Why go
This is the final stop of the first comprehensive survey for the pioneering Fluxus co-founder, showcasing how she merged performance, sound, and mundane materials to break the boundaries between art and life.
You'll see
Bean sculptures · Event scores · Silkscreens on canvas · Sound installations · Interactive public scores
Pace of visit
Allow time to read the event scores and engage with the interactive bean installations throughout the galleries.
Don't miss
Celebration Red, an evolving installation where visitors contribute red objects to build a communal archive of everyday color.
Artlovers Tip
Bring a small red object to add to the evolving grid in the Celebration Red installation; it’s a direct way to become part of the artist's living archive.
Inside the exhibition
Meet the artist
Description
by Alison Knowles: A Retrospective (1960–2022) at NYU’s Grey Art Museum in New York City, USA, is the first full-career survey of the influential Fluxus co-founder. Spanning six decades, the exhibition traces Knowles's move from figurative painting to the radical event scores and experimental publications that decentralized the role of the artist and invited public participation.
The presentation features approximately 200 objects, including her iconic bean works—installations and multiples made from dried legumes—alongside large-scale silkscreens and sound-producing sculptures. The galleries are split between a chronological look at her pivotal 1960s intermedia practice and a thematic exploration of her later focus on tactile materials, handmade paper, and digital poetry like The House of Dust.
By bringing these works to the Grey Art Museum, the retrospective emphasizes Knowles's deep connection to the downtown Manhattan art scene and her lasting impact on conceptualism. It offers a rare chance to see her collaborative book-objects and auditory environments in one space, highlighting how she turned domestic textures and simple actions into high-stakes experimental art.
Worth travelling for?
A rewarding and tactile deep dive for anyone interested in the history of performance art and the legacy of the 1960s avant-garde.
Experience as an Artlover
Admission to the Grey Art Museum is free and open to all. The museum is located at 18 Cooper Square and is closed on Sundays and Mondays; check the official schedule for special performance restagings during the exhibition run.
by Alison Knowles: A Retrospective (1960–2022)
Artlovers relevance
Plan your visit
NYU’s Grey Art Museum
New York, United States
