Nancy Margolis Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the massive group show, “Permanent Collection.” 130 artists were asked to select any single piece from the over 15,000 works in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection and create their own version with restricted dimensions. The range of work selected varies from design objects (Arthur Young, Bell-47D1) to iconic modern paintings (Cezanne, The Bather) to experimental film (Thomas Wilfred, Vertical Sequence). The choice of medium varies from video to sculpture to painting, and approaches range from pastiche to parody to tribute. The show continues the critique of the art world establishment and the concept of “master works.” MoMA, considered to be the art world’s current imprimatur, follows in the tradition of the Louvre and the Paris Salon. It is the establishment into which artists seek inclusion. One asks, is the experiential value of copying works from the MoMA the same as Manet copying master works from the Louvre? Is admittance into MoMA’s permanent collection the equivalent of acceptance into the Paris Salon? The show also contributes to the running commentary on the politics of reproduction, addressing the issues of “authenticity” and “aura.” Can one make an authentic reproduction? At what point does mimicry become inspiration? When does a unique reproduction gain its own “aura?” Although the art world establishment has moved from the Louvre to the MoMA, one thing has retained its permanence; inclusion into the institution is still controlled by the collectors and benefactors of the establishment, not the artists themselves. Permanent Collection opens on July 12th, 2012 and will run for three weeks.

Permanent Collection includes work by: Martin Adolfsson, Jose Arenas, Kim Beck, Melinda Beck, Polly Becker, Gregory Benton, Pat Berran, Ben Bois, Kelie Bowman, Clayton Brothers, Calef Brown, Pam Butler, William Buzzell, Amy Chan, Wendy Chisholm, Hyemi Cho, Ludmilla Corcova, Louie Cordero, Paul Corio, Anthony Cudahy, Carl D’Alvia, Daniel Davidson, Cecilia de Corral, Edward del Rosario, Donna Dodson, Leslie Donaldson, Joel Dugan, Benjamin Edwards, Ursula Endlicher, Chris Feczko, Mary Flanagan, AJ Fosik, James Benjamin Franklin, James Gallagher, Brenda Garand, John Garcia, Sandra Gibson, Matt Haber, Jackie Hahn, Joseph Hart, Hunter Heckroth, Jason Holley, Hadley Holliday, Kenichi Hoshine, Jim Houser, Liz Hur, Mala Iqbal, Jordin Isip, Rich Jacobs, Susan Jamison, Frances Jetter, Masuko Jo, Duncan Johnson, Jugular, Jen Karady, Nina Katchadourian, Misaki Kawai, Hiroshi Kimura, Fay Ku, Hiro Kurata, Margaret Lanzetta, Cat Lauigan, Su kyung Lee, Rob Leecock, Matt Leines, Rachel Levit, Elissa Levy, Mon Li, Melissa Ling, Patte Loper, Marci MacGuffie, Amy Mahnick, Jane Mai, Melissa McGill, Taylor McKimens, Bronwyn Minton, Sarah Moseley, Kris Mukai, Erin Murray, Rob Nadeau, Tom Ngo, Stephen Nguyen, Rachel Owens, David Packer, Mu Pan, Chang Park, Soo Sunny Park, Maritsa Patrinos, Bruno Perillo, Chelsey Pettyjohn, David Plunkert, Jason Polan, Garrett Pruter, Jeff Quinn, Monica Ramos, Luis Recoder, Geoff Rockwell, Les Rogers, Gina Ruggeri, Stanley Ruiz, Jackie Saccoccio, Hazel Lee Santino, Bruce Schiefelbein, Kristen Schiele, Anna Sea, Paula Searing, Betsy Seder, Randall Sellers, Kiriko Shirobayashi, Andrew Smenos, Rodger Stevens, Sto, Maribel Tapia, Mark Todd, Justin Valdes, Nichole van Beek, William van Roden, Dominique Vitali, Roxie Vizcarra, Marie von Heyl, Esther Pearl Watson, Sanders Watson, David Weeks, Emily Weiner, Eric White, Robin Williams, Karla Wozniak, Clifford Wun, Julee Yoo, Bill Zindel and Arthur Zomby.