Sink or Swim

Details

Lawrence Weiner (B. 1942)
Sink or Swim
signed with the artist's initials and dated 'LW 2003', stamped 'Sink or Swim' (lower right)
ink, felt-tip pen and collage on paper
16 3/8 x 23 ¼in. (41.5 x 59cm.)
Executed in 2003

Provenance

Marian Goodman Gallery, New York.
Swiss Institute, New York.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2008.

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Lot Essay

In this work on paper Lawrence Weiner drafts one of his iconic word pieces, which adorn numerous prominent public and private collections, such as the Whitney Museum and the Dia Art Foundation in New York. Sink or Swim is especially enigmatic, evoking an openness of meaning that engages the viewer with its use of punctuation and freely interpretable gestures that link together the few provocative clauses interspersed across the page.

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