Games and puzzles have long been the stuff of inspiration for Micah Lexier. His current exhibition, Versions, at Birch Contemporary takes a playful meander through these forms. Borrowing on the congeniality that these often shared amusements bestow, the show is relaxed and sociable, inviting the viewer to play along too. Repetition, variation, reversal, for all the energy of chance these strategies are calculated to construct a syntax of visual and material relationships. They may be derived from simple amusements but they shed light on our most valued attribute, our curiosity. The artwork emerges from the pure pleasure of discovery, just for the fun of it.
IMAGE CREDIT: Micah Lexier. “Hands Holding Things 047.” 2015. Inkjet print on Fabriano Hot Press 320, unique photograph, 16″ x 12″.