James Lee Byars

During his first European exhibition in 1969, James Lee Byars presented three light-hearted actions, and with them provided a guideline for experiencing his art: as a viewer you had to believe in the reality he was offering. Even if that reality was too good to be true, too small to be taken seriously, or was over before you realized it. The less you had to go by, the greater the scope for your imagination.
The American artist travelled the world throughout his life. Thanks to this nomadic lifestyle, he developed an extensive international network that he maintained with letters. His correspondence with the Flemish former museum director Flor Bex and his wife Lieve De Deyne, and with Wies Smals, founder of De Appel in Amsterdam, is the point of departure for this Boijmans Study. The activities of Byars in the Netherlands and Belgium are given a central position, but attention is also paid to his formative years in Japan.