ADAM CARR on Invitation Piece (1971/73) by Robert Barry

I hadn’t been faced with making such a difficult declaration as to name my favourite artwork until recently during a dinner with friends in Berlin. Nobody could reach a definitive choice for his or her greatest artwork and those who were quick to decide only changed their selection soon after. My attempt was full of false starts. Every time I settled on a preference I found myself considering another. Consoled with the thought that this question would only face me during a light dinnertime conversation. 
This dress rehearsal made clear that there are numerous artworks, which for numerous reasons, stand as my favourite. Another thought: I wonder if there are as many artworks as there are people? Perhaps I should select a work that was the first to make consider art in a different light (Andy Warhol at the age of eight); an artist who demonstrated the potential for art to be humorous – if not a little frightening at the time (Paul McCarthy at twelfe); or moreover, offered a completely unconventional experience from the museological norm, which, after several visits led by my mother and father tastes, I began to tire of (Felix Gonzalez Torres at seventeen). 
Although I fondly remember those experiences and still have great admiration for those artists today, an artwork I think I should choose is one which equally broadened my perspective of art, comprising elements of the above, but which has had more of an influencing force on my work as a curator. Matching these criteria – and more – would have to be Invitation Piece by Robert Barry (1972/73). I never forget the moment I first saw this work in a book around 10 years ago while in high school, gripped immediately by its graphical austerity, which recalled Peter Saville’s record cover designs that I grew an enthusiasm for around the time. Learning more about Conceptual art later on, I realised its wide span of meaning, yet pivotally everything is there for all to see. The work consists of 8 invitation cards issued by the 8 galleries that Barry was working with at the time. Functioning antithetically to gallery announcements, but still in keeping with their visual identity, each gallery declared solo exhibitions by the artist in different galleries. Paul Maenz Gallery in Cologne invited one to an exhibition at Art & Project in Amsterdam, who in turn announced an exhibition at Jack Wendler Gallery in London. From there, the journey continued through to galleries in New York, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Turin, then returning back to Cologne. If one followed this path, they would soon realise they were being taken on a merry-go-round, programmed by the artist to offer consecutive exhibitions clockwise around the artworld for one season: from November 1972 until June 1973. Currently, the work is exhibited as a circular alignment of the 8 invitation cards, forming traces of non-occurring events choreographed by the artist to direct art into the mode of its own mediation. 

ADAM CARR (*1981) is a curator and writer currently based in London.