“Documenting Marcel” Poster

The poster announced New York–based Reinhold-Brown Gallery’s show “Documenting Marcel,” which displayed posters and catalogues from Marcel Duchamp’s eighty-four known exhibitions. The game of chess, which Duchamp was extremely fond of, was employed as a metaphor for retracing his steps. The description of each exhibit was set in square blocks moving across the picture plane much like chess pieces.

The cubes making up the chess board are a subtle joke on Cubism, which Duchamp considered an overused visual formula. Within this framework there are many other references to Duchamp’s work and ideas. The large queen has multiple exposures to evoke Duchamp’s “Nude Descending a Staircase” and the translucent paper is an homage to Duchamp’s interest in translucent media.