Artist: Taryn Simon

Gagosian presents an exhibition of new works by Taryn Simon. Opening on March 20 at Park & 75, New York, it includes an interactive sculpture and a group of photographs that take an archaeological view of public attention and politics.

Kleroterion (2024) is a cast resin sculpture that functions as both a game and a model of governance. Named after a device developed during the era of democracy in ancient Athens (c. 460–c. 322 BCE), the work invites individuals to assemble in groups of five and determine what power the game’s winner will be granted. Each participant inserts a colored chip into an empty slot, and a hand crank sets in motion a weighted set of balls that travel through the machine and knock out all but one chip, employing chance to determine a victor.

According to historical accounts and surviving artifacts, the kleroterion was used to select male citizens for civic offices. Conducted in plain view of the public, this randomized lottery was a primary aspect of the Athenian system of direct democracy, rather than elections, which were thought to be corruptible. Commissioned by Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, New York, Simon’s reimagined Kleroterion was first exhibited in the fall of 2024 in advance of the US presidential election.

Accompanying Kleroterion is a collection of photographs from a developing body of work. Traveling across the United States, Simon followed the political vapor trail of the 2024 presidential campaigns in pursuit of flashpoints that captured the nation’s attention. Rendered as fragments, these images memorialize the stagecraft of collective distraction.

Presented in colored, nested frames designed by the artist, the photographs (all 2024) depict Miss Sassy, a cat whose owner reportedly told police that her pet had been eaten by Haitian migrants before it was found in her basement; a bleacher-like formation of fries from the McDonald’s where the Republican candidate staged a viral photo op, set atop a saturated field of red; Representative Jasmine Crockett’s eyelashes, the accessory that sparked a verbal altercation with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene during a congressional hearing; a lone SpaceX rocket in mid-ascent, its thrusters illuminating the night sky and the shimmering waters below. Eerie, lyrical, and seductive, Simon’s pictures radiate beyond the present.