The Found Object Show
March 24-26
516 W 26th Street, Suite 315, NYC
www.artwithoutintent.com
@artwithoutintent

NEW YORK CITY — The Found Object Show featuring “Stuffed Animals: An Exhibition” opens on March 24-26 at 516 West 26th Street. Curated by 18 exhibitors, the show presents as-found things transformed over time as “art without intent.”

Recast in form by forces of nature or changed in significance through contextual shifts, the found object takes on the aesthetic and conceptual dimensions of art, but without artist. Visitors to the show will encounter pieces ranging from rare antiques to commonplace items, some unrecognizable in appearance and others displaced in time and space, but whether or not they find art depends upon their own experience. Art without intent is subjective, but awakens an artistic muscle latent in every human imagination. All items will be available for purchase from exhibitors.

As part of the larger show, Found Object 2023 will host a special collective exhibition and accompanying book, which this year takes the toy stuffed animal as its subject. Gathered by exhibitors, the menagerie features more than 100 evocative cloth creatures dating from the Nineteenth Century through the 1970s. Whether homemade or manufactured, beloved or feared, timeworn or time-warped, the stuffed animals of Found Object 2023 run wild as objects uncaged from their original contexts to stalk the imagination.

Although the concept is not new, the found object is fundamentally misunderstood in mainstream art. As opposed to the conventional idea of the “readymade,” an extraordinary found object maintains intrinsic qualities independent of the imprimatur of any artist. While these art-like characteristics may be inherently subjective, their felt impact is measurable across individual experiences. As a phenomenon as old as human consciousness itself, the recognition of a found object triggers a wordless, intuitive, even involuntary aesthetic and conceptual response within the mind of its discoverer — what we call “art without intent.”

Now in its second year, the Found Object Show debuted in New York City in March 2022 as the project of nine art and antiques dealers. The 96 objects included in the original show are each featured in the exhibition book, Art Without Intent, available to view or purchase at www.artwithoutintent.com.

Coming in March 2023, the book Stuffed Animals: An Exhibition is currently available to pre-order.

The Found Object Show invites visitors of all ages and backgrounds to liberate their imaginations from prescribed artistic conventions and experience transformative objects firsthand. Art without intent ennobles the random, celebrates the anonymous and embraces the subjective, empowering individuals to see art where they may least expect to find it.

For additional information and full list of exhibitors, visit www.artwithoutintent.com.

Including each of the 100+ cloth creatures offered for sale, an exhibition book is available for purchase on our website.
Antiques as found art curated by 18 exhibitors