The Bride and the Bachelors at Barbican Art Gallery

Encountering Duchamp and his work in New York during the early stages of their own careers, John Cage Cage, Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns embraced key elements of his ideas and practice, creating a seismic shift in the direction of art from the late 1950s and 60s, which still resonates today. Often cited as being the father of conceptual art, Duchamp radically altered what we think of as art - employing chance and humour, questioning the tastemakers, and perhaps most radically of all, creating works of art from everyday objects. This exhibition features twenty-three works by Duchamp, and more than forty by Johns and Rauschenberg, as well as pre-recorded music by Cage and live Cunningham performance. At its heart are two pieces: Duchamp’s legendary masterpiece Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), 1912, which caused uproar exactly 100 years ago, and the iconic The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass), 1991–92 replica of the 1915–23 original.