What Marcel Duchamp Taught Me, The Fine Art Society

You might know Marcel Duchamp’s artwork as the controversial urinal and bottle rack which became seminal pieces of modern art as ‘readymades’. To mark the historic centenary of the first of Marcel Duchamp’s readymades, The Fine Art Society, London has unveiled their largest exhibition to date. Fifty artists have responded to the exhibition title, “What Marcel Duchamp Taught Me”, with work by major contemporary figures including Richard Hamilton, Martin Creed, Cornelia Parker and David Shrigley.
In an anonymous description of the readymade, almost certainly penned by Duchamp himself in 1917, the urinal or ‘Fountain’ (1917) is justified: “Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. He chose it. He took an ordinary article of life, and placed it so that its useful significance disappeared”. With this empowering announcement, Duchamp ensured his legacy would prove to be one of the most significant of the century.
As London’s oldest commercial gallery, The Fine Art Society Bond Street, is well placed to appreciate the weight of Duchamp’s influence on later artists. After all, as contributing artist David Mach reflects, “Duchamp didn’t just move the goal posts, he obliterated the pitch”.