New York, NY (July 11, 2012) - The National Academy is proud to announce John Cage: The Sight of Silence, the largest American exhibition of John Cage’s visual work since 1992 and the only showing of his visual work in New York City during his centenary year. The show will be on view September 12, 2012 – January 13, 2013 at the National Academy Museum.

Known primarily as a groundbreaking composer and musician, John Cage was also a prolific visual artist who created an extensive body of watercolors, prints, and drawings. The exhibition will focus on 60 works, most of which Cage created while he was artist-in-residence at the Mountain Lake Workshop in Virginia during the 1980s and again in 1990. The exhibition will include this production as well as some of the artist’s unusual graphic musical scores accompanied by recordings of his music, photographs and video of Cage performing and painting, as well as other documentary material, providing insight into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s most important avant-garde thinkers.

Deeply influenced by Eastern philosophy, Cage adopted an unconventional artistic practice that was based on chance. To create his visual works, as with his music, Cage sought to eliminate the personal touch of the artist by relying on indeterminacy and employing “chance operations” as his working method. Cage used the I Ching, the ancient Chinese divination book of wisdom, to govern his aesthetic decisions, an artistic strategy antithetical to Western notions of the creative process. In his words: “I use Chance Operations instead of operating according to my likes and dislikes,” allowing Cage to create art that was free of his personal preferences.

Cage was instrumental in establishing the foundation of a trans-disciplinary artistic practice—commonplace among visual artists today—and his philosophy, music, and visual art have significantly influenced successive generations of artists working in a variety of disciplines. The exhibition elucidates Cage’s pioneering endeavors by drawing connections between his watercolor paintings and an array of contextual material including a selection of drawings and prints, examples of his unconventional and visually-based musical notation, feather brushes and stones Cage used, photographs and video documentation of the artist painting, passages from his writings, portions of significant performances and music, and excerpts from interviews. In the spirit of Cage, the exhibition will be installed using chance operations, allowing indeterminacy to guide where the work will be placed on the walls.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS In conjunction with John Cage: The Sight of Silence the Academy will present Chance Encounters, a series of seventeen public programs that include readings, demonstrations, dance and musical performances by artists, writers, and musicians many of whom knew Cage including Robert Berlind, Kenneth Goldsmith, Margaret Leng Tan, Du Yun, Robert Kushner, and many others.

CATALOGUE The exhibition publication, The Sight of Silence: John Cage’s Complete Watercolors, includes an introduction by Marshall N. Price, Academy Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, that places the exhibition historically, a contextual essay by Ray Kass, co-curator of the exhibition with Price and director at the Mountain Lake Workshop, and a series of detailed personal recollections by Kass on Cage’s visits to the Workshop. The publication serves as a catalogue raisonné of Cage’s watercolors. It also provides greater insight into Cage’s working methods, as well as how his interest in Zen Buddhism influenced his works.

FUNDING Support for this exhibition and associated programs has been provided by the Dedalus Foundation, The Greenwich Collection and The Alvin E. Friedman-Kien Foundation.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ACADEMY
Throughout its storied history, the National Academy has followed a simple yet powerful mission: to promote the fine arts in America through exhibition and education. Founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand, the National Academy is the only institution of its kind that integrates a museum, art school, and association of artists and architects – the National Academicians. Academicians include over 330 of today’s most recognized artists and architects, including Christo, Ann Hamilton, Richard Meier, Rafael Viñoly, and many others.

Illuminating canonical figures as well as those deserving of reappraisal, the museum widens the lens through which American art is viewed and appreciated. Rotating exhibitions include 19th, 20th and 21st century art and architecture, reflections of contemporary American culture, and selections from the permanent collection. Exhibitions are supported with lectures, symposia, and panel discussions that engage the public with the Academy’s living artistic legacy.

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EXHIBITION: JOHN CAGE: THE SIGHT OF SILENCE
Dates: September 12, 2011 – January 13, 2013 Hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM

NATIONAL ACADEMY MUSEUM
1083 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street
Admission:
Adults: $15; Seniors (65+) and students with valid ID: $10
Children under 12, members, and students of the
National Academy School: free

PRESS CONTACT
Heidi Riegler, Director Marketing and Communications
National Academy Museum and School
212.369.4880, x 214
hriegler@nationalacademy.org
www.nationalacademy.org