Last year, when everything was great and wonderful, it was common practice for me and a friend to respond to each sparkling piece of good news with the refrain . . . We’re all gonna die.

This was punctuated with the sound affect – pooouuucchhhh!

This year, now that everything is awful and worrisome, its still common for my friend and me to evoke the refrain. The fact that my funny friend and I are both cancer survivors is not without significance – although this of course does not change the basic facts of life, on or under the ground.

I joked seriously that someone should curate a show with this eponymous refrain and almost one year to the joke’s inception day . . . it is done. Ladies and gentlemen, I existentially bring you: We’re all gonna die.

Built on the notion that death is both, universal and personal, tragic and comedic and basically as unknowable as life is knowable, the assembled artists have been tasked with speaking truth to mystery, while folding their own meditations into the larger group-think.

Two galleries will participate in a Part A (Comedic) and Part B (Tragic) – Number 35 and Sue Scott Gallery, respectively. A billboard designed by Gary Simmons will function as the show’s macro-announcement and micro-announcement card image. The billboard is to be installed on the corner of Rivington and Bowery, below Sue Scott Gallery.

Participants in Part A (May 30 – July 10) are: Andisheh Avini Tanya Barr A.J. Bocchino Christopher Daniels Alex Dodge Carroll Dunham Douglas Gordon Kara Hamilton Maira Kalman Markus Linnenbrink Gary Rough Gary Simmons Laurie Simmons Charles Spurrier

Participants in Part B (June 25 – August 2) are: Sarah Charlesworth Anthony Conway Paola Ferrario Kara Hamilton Hugo Kobayashi Robert Lazzarini Miyeon Lee Catarina Leitão Markus Linnenbrink Robin Lowe Marilyn Minter Carol Peligian Gary Rough Gary Simmons Laurie Simmons Lorna Simpson Charles Spurrier Joni Sternbach Fred Tomaselli