As part of an ongoing series of on-site projects, Louise Lawler's audio recording and text Birdcalls is featured in the Museum's entrance and lobby. An artist famous for her postmodern critique of popular images, Lawler conceived the work early in her career while involved in a collaborative project on the Hudson River piers in lower Manhattan. Having to leave the site late at night and growing frustrated with the way male and female labor was being recognized, Lawler resolved to loudly mimic the names of her famous male colleagues in the form of birdcalls. The audio recording sounds the names of 28 artists alphabetically and will be played on a continuous loop. The list of names is also prominently displayed.
Louise Lawler was born 1947 in Bronxville, New York. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Selected solo exhibitions include She’s Here at Sammlung Verbund in Vienna (2018); AFTER at Campoli Presti in Paris (2018); WHY PICTURES NOW at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (2017); The High Line Billboard in New York City (2014); No Drones at Metro Pictures in New York City, at Sprueth Magers in Berlin and London, at Yvon Lambert in Paris, at Galerie Greeta Meert in Brussels and at Studio Guenzani in Milan (2014); and Adjusted at Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany (2013).
Selected group exhibitions include MOCA Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles; 33rd Bienal de Sao Paulo; the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.; the National Portrait Gallery in London; the Grand Palais in Paris; The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City; the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Greater New York at MoMA PS1 in New York City; the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California; and Documenta 12 at Aue-Pavillion in Kassel, Germany.
Image credit:
Louise Lawler
Birdcalls, 1972/81
Audio recording and text
7:01 minutes
Courtesy of LeWitt Collection, Chester, Connecticut