Jun 21 – Jul 26, 2024

The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy

Yuji Agematsu, Lynda Benglis, Carly Burnell, Justin Chance, Violet Dennison, David Flaugher, Lauren Anaïs Hussey, Nika Kutateladze, Liza Lacroix, Sabine Moritz, Michael Simpson curated by Cooper Brovenick

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Justin Chance, Closed Book, 2023. Quilted wet and needle felted wool, cotton, silk, dye, 41 × 52 in / 104,1 × 132,1 cm

Justin Chance, Closed Book, 2023 (detail). Quilted wet and needle felted wool, cotton, silk, dye, 41 × 52 in / 104,1 × 132,1 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

David Flaugher, Walking dead perversion, 2024. Oil on linen, 20 × 25 in / 50,8 × 63,5 cm

David Flaugher, Walking dead perversion, 2024 (detail). Oil on linen, 20 × 25 in / 50,8 × 63,5 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Carly Burnell, Occ, 2024. Oil, resin, and wax on linen, 72 × 48 in / 183 × 122 cm

Carly Burnell, Occ, 2024 (detail). Oil, resin, and wax on linen, 72 × 48 in / 183 × 122 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Liza Lacroix, UTTER CLAUSTROPHOBIA IN TIME/space of present. I missed him all last week too., 2024. Oil on canvas, 72 × 60 in / 182,9 × 152,4 cm

Liza Lacroix, UTTER CLAUSTROPHOBIA IN TIME/space of present. I missed him all last week too., 2024 (detail). Oil on canvas, 72 × 60 in / 182,9 × 152,4 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Yuji Agematsu, zip: 10.01.07 . . . 10.31.07, 2007. Lucite, cellophane, 26 × 34 × 5 in / 66 × 86,4 × 12,7 cm

Yuji Agematsu, zip: 10.01.07 . . . 10.31.07, 2007 (detail). Lucite, cellophane, 26 × 34 × 5 in / 66 × 86,4 × 12,7 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Carly Burnell, Blood brother, 2024. Oil, resin, and wax on linen, 40 1/4 × 32 1/4 in / 102 × 82 cm

Carly Burnell, Blood brother, 2024 (detail). Oil, resin, and wax on linen, 40 1/4 × 32 1/4 in / 102 × 82 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Sabine Moritz, For the lovers IX, 2024. Oil on canvas, 67 × 59 in / 170 × 150 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Michael Simpson, Drawing for the Love Locked series', 1983. Oil, French chalk, gouache, charcoal on paper, 25 1/4 × 32 1/2 in / 64 × 82,5 cm

Michael Simpson, Drawing for the Love Locked series', 1983 (detail). Oil, French chalk, gouache, charcoal on paper, 25 1/4 × 32 1/2 in / 64 × 82,5 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Lynda Benglis, Figure 2, 2009. Aluminum, 80 × 51 1/2 × 22 in / 203,2 × 130,8 ×55,9 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Violet Dennison, Manganese Blue Abstraction, 2024. Oil on linen, 20 × 20 in / 50,8 × 50,8 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Nika Kutateladze, Untitled, 2024. Oil on grounded wood, 8 1/4 × 6 in / 21 × 15 cm

Nika Kutateladze, Untitled, 2024 (detail). Oil on grounded wood, 8 1/4 × 6 in / 21 × 15 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Violet Dennison, Brain Rot, 2024. Oil and graphite on linen, 12 × 12 in / 30,5 × 30,5 cm

Lauren Anaïs Hussey, Is Ought (Niñ_ 2), 2024. Oil on linen, 20 × 24 in / 50,8 × 61 cm

Lauren Anaïs Hussey, Is Ought (Niñ_2), 2024 (detail). Oil on linen, 20 × 24 in / 50,8 × 61 cm

Exhibition view of The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, Tara Downs, New York, 2024.

Press Release

Tara Downs is pleased to present The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy, a group exhibition curated by Cooper Brovenick. Bringing together a cross-generational selection of artists, the exhibition examines the mechanics of temporality in contemporary life, elucidating the manifold correspondences among time, relationships, and artistic production. It also broadly considers the many afterlives of abstraction, posited here not in opposition to representational or figurative modes of painting, but rather as a countervailing, coexistent force. Many of the works on view deconstruct or otherwise disregard the oft-evoked binary between abstraction and representation, revealing ways in which abstraction, too, holds the potential to suggest narrative or temporal structures, or how materially-engaged, process-based practices may begin to render forms more closely associated with painting before the advent of modernism. Alternatively, other works recognize visual abstraction as a means of signification: as an allegorical assertion of desire, formlessness, and individual expression against forms of constraint, whether engendered by formal conventions of the medium or by the commitments, limitations, and compromises born from interpersonal relationships. Drawing upon a body of Surrealist literature, including André Breton’s L’Amour Fou, 1937, The Principle Cause of Serial Monogamy conceives of abstraction, like love, as a special sort of paradox: both mystery and revelation, a problem with which to contend and its own solution.

Yuji Agematsu (b. 1956 in Kanagawa, JP) is an artist based in New York. Agematsu earned a Bachelor of Arts from Friends World College in 1984. Agematsu’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the following venues: “Yuji Agematsu,” Gladstone Gallery, Brussels, BE (2023); “2020,” Secession, Vienna, AT (2021); “Times Square Times (Kodak All-Stars),” Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York, US (2020); “1995 & 2003,” Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York, US (2019); “Day by Day,” The Power Station, Dallas, US (2018); “Self-Portrait,” Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York, US (2017); and “Walk on A, B, C,” Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, US (2015). The artist’s work has been presented in numerous two-person and group exhibitions including: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); “Le Contre-Ciel,” Empty Gallery, Aberdeen, Hong Kong (2024); “The Ireeplaceable Human,” Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, DK (2023); “On the Nature of Things,” Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, US (2022); “Greater New York 2021, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, US (2021); and “How Long is Now?” New in Contemporary Art, Israel Museum, Jurusalem, IL (2021).

Lynda Benglis (b. 1941 in Lake Charles, US) is an artist based in New York. Benglis earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Newcomb College (New Orleans, US) in 1964.Benglis’s work has been the subject of solo and two-person exhibitions at the following venues: “Lynda Benglis: Recent Sculptures,” Turner Contemporary, Margat, UK (2024); “Color + Form,” Pace, Palm Beach, US (2022); “Lynda Benglis,” National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., US (2021); “Ceramics & Sparkle Sculptures,” Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, BE (2020); and . The artist’s work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions including: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); “If not now, when?: Collection Max Vorst,” Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Haugue, NL (2024); “Making Their Mark, Shah Garg Collection, New York, US (2023); “Stuff,” Pace Gallery, New York, US (2022); “Arcimboldo Face to Face,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR (2021); “Ellison Jr. Collection,” Metroplitan Museum of Art,” New York, US (2022); and “Expressionism,” Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, US (2020).

Carly Burnell (b. 1991 in Santa Barbara, US) is an artist based in New York. Burnell earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Parsons New School for Design (New York, US) in 2015 and Master of Fine Arts from New York University in 2017. Burnell’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the following venues: “But the song persists,” David Lewis Gallery, New York, US (2024); “changeling,” Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York, US (2023); “latent impressions,” Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York, US (2019); “ You Have My Eyes,” CFCP, Brooklyn, US (2018); and “November,” 80WSE Project Space, New York, US (2016). The artist’s work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions including: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); “Honoring the Dog-Legging Horizon,” Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York, US (2021); “Late Summer,” Studio 200, New York, US (2019); “Semi Permanent Exhibition,” The Wing DC, Washington DC, US (2018); “Winter in America II,” Mon’s Favorite Gallery, Los Angeles, US (2017); and “Be Your Own Puppet,” Theodore:Art, Brooklyn, US (2017).

Justin Chance (b. 1993 in New York, US) is an artist and writer based in New York. Chance earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts in Visual & Critical Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015. Chance’s work has been the subject of solo and two-person exhibitions at the following venues: “Archive,” Naranjo 141, Mexcio City, MX (2024); “Live,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2023); “Loive is Sci-Fi,” Sydney, Sydney, AU (2023); “Winter (with Sylvie Hayes-Wallace),” Hesse Flatow, New York, US (2023); CFA, Milan, IT, presented by Tara Downs (2022); “Social (with The People of New York),” Apparatus Projects, Chicago, US (2022); “Low Life,” Smart Objects, Los Angeles, US (2021); and “Better (with Hunter Foster),” Gern en Regalia, New York, US (2021). The artist’s work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions including: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); “A Study in Form (Chapter Two),” James Fuentes, New York, US, (2024); “FLESH & FLOWERS,” Made in America, NO NAME, Paris, FR (2023); “Public Life (Drawings), Chris Andrews, Montreal, CA (2023); “The Grid and the Curve,” JTT, New York, US (2022); “Material Knowledge,” Arsenal Contemporary, New York, US (2022); “Elective Affinities,” Chapter NY, New York, US (2022); “Remnant, Artifact, Flow,” Thierry Goldberg, New York, US (2021).

Violet Dennison (b. 1989, Bridgeport, US) is a sculptor and multimedia artist based in New York. Selected solo exhibitions: Tara Downs, New York, US (2024) (Forthcoming); “WETWARE,” Jan Kaps, Cologne, DE (2023); “Freak Like Me,” Theta, New York, US (2021); “Chapter Four: Disappointment,” Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg, DE (2019); “Tell Me How To Feel,” Kunsthalle Stavanger, Stavanger, DE (2019); “Transcend,” Jan Kaps, Cologne, DE (2017); “O Earth, O Earth, Return!,” Allen & Eldridge, New York, US (2015); “Replicant,” Jan Kaps, Cologne, DE (2014); Selected Group Exhibitions: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); “Plastic Stars,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2023); “In Practice: Literally means collapse,” Sculpture Center, New York, US (2022); “The Grid and the Curve,” JTT, New York, US (2022); “So many Stars,” Stars, Los Angeles, US (2021); “Some of the Hole,” Simian, Copenhagen, DK (2020); “Weather Report,” The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Connecticut, US (2019); “Triennial: Songs for Sabotage,” New Museum, New York, US (2018); “Dinner that Night (organized by Weston Lowe),” Bureau, New York, US (2018); “Of Fauna and Flora,” Tomorrow Gallery, New York, US (2016); To Do as One Would, David Zwirner, New York (2014).

David Flaugher (b. 1986 in Detroit, US) is an artist based in New York. Flaugher earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from College for Creative Studies (Detroit, US) in 2008 and Master of Fine Arts from New York University (New York, US) in 2013. Flaugher’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the following venues: “David Flaugher,” LOMEX, New York, US (2022); “David Flaugher,” AND NOW, Dallas, US (2022); “David Flaugher,” Eli and Eddythe Broad Museum, East Lansing, US (2021); “David Flaugher,” Eli Ping Frances Perkins, New York, US (2016); and “Schnickschnack,” Jan Kaps, Cologne, DE (2015). The artist’s work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions including: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); “Under the Volcano II,” LOMEX, New York, US (2022); “Erlanger, Flaugher, Legate,” AND NOW, Dallas, US (2019); “Foundation for Contemporary Art,” Gladstone Gallery, New York, US (2018); “Eric Schmid is an Idiot,” What Pipeline at CAVE, Detroit, US (2017); and “A human is not a duck,” Alma Zevi, Venice, IT (2016).

Lauren Anaïs Hussey (b. 1990, Jacksonville, US) is an artist based in Brooklyn, US. Hussey earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting Drawing & Printmaking from the University of North Florida (Jacksonville, US) in 2014 and Mater of Fine Arts in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, US). Hussey’s work has been the subject of selected exhibitions at the following venues: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); “Retinal Loop,” Chart Gallery, New York, US (2024); “Chapter One: Extrinsicality,” Woaw, Wan Chai, HK (2023); “Abstraction Show,” Taymour Grahne Projects, London, UK (2023); “Solidarity,” Nexx Asia, Taipei, TW (2023); “Sunsets,” Underdonk, Brooklyn, US (2022); “FIFTY,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, US (2022).

Nika Kutateladze (b. 1989 in Tbilisi, GE) is an artist based in Tbilisi, Georgia. Kutateladze earned degree of Architecture at The Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 2013 and masters at the Centre of Contemporary Art (Tbilisi, GE) in 2013. Kutateladze’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the following venues: “La Maison Georgie,” Maison Des Arts Georges & Claude Pompidou, Cajarc, FR (2024); “They were born together, They will die together,” Modern Art, London, UK (2024); “My Neighbour is a House,” Artbeat, Tbilisi, GE (2023); “A Sparrowhawk Sits on the Sky in August,” Moving Gallery by Artbeat, Tbilisi, GE (2022); and “Tariel is Getting Ready for Hibernation,” Artbeat, Tbilisi, GE (2021). The artist’s work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions including: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); “Coming back from the present, veiws on the current scene,” Lambert Collection, Avignon, FR (2024); “Listen with Your Eyes,” Efremidis Gallery, Berlin, DE (2023); “Kindred Visions,” Secci Gallery, Florence, IT (2023); “Malediction and Prayer,” Modern Art SW1, London, UK (2023); “When I Wrote a Poem,” Artbeat, Tbilisi, GE (2021); “Metamorphosis. Art in Curope Now,” The Fondation Cartier, Paris, FR (2019); and “Double Standards,” Yarat Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, AZ (2017).

Liza Lacroix (b. 1988 in Montreal, CA) is an artist based in New York. Liza earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ontario College of Art & Design University (Toronto, CA) in 2011 and Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College-CUNY (New York, US) in 2023. Lacroix’s work has been the subject of solo and two-person exhibitions at the following venues: “Liza Lacroix and Suzy Lake,” two seven two, Toronto, CA (2024) (forthcoming); “Try laughting at something,” Galerie Gisela Captain, Cologne, DE (2023); “you whores in my heart,” Magenta Plains, New York, US (2022); “The eco of alien speech that pours into me day and night and night and day,” Albertusstrasse, Galerie Gisela Captain, Cologne, DE (2022); and “Has This Solved Your Problem of What to Do Next?” Midnight Projects (Mana Contemporary), Jersey City, US (2021). The artist’s work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions including: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); Peana at Nancarrow House, Mexico City, MX (2024); “Yuen-Yeung,” K11 Art Mall, Shanghai, CN (2023); “Worms, A Good Business Model,” Gallery at 205 Hudson, New York, US (2023); “Metamorfosi, Zweigstelle,” Galeria Gisela Capitain, Rome, IT (2022); “Friends & Family,” Magenta Plains, New York, US (2021); and “Pazzo Palazzo,” Palazzo Monti, Brescia, IT (2019).

Sabine Moritz (b. 1969 in Quedlinburg, DE) is an artist based in Cologne, Germany. Moritz’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the following venues: “August,” Gagosian, Rome, IT (2023); “Heart of Drought | Under the Skin,” Pilar Corrias, London, UK (2023); “Sabine Moritz,” Marian Goodman, New York, US (2022); “Mercy,” Pilar Corrias, London, UK (2021); “Sterne und Granit,” Kunsthalle Rostock, Rostock, DE (2019); “Eden,” König Galerie, Berlin, DE (2018); “Neuland,” Kunstverein Bremerhaven, Bremerhaven, DE (2017); and “Blumen,” Schädel Galerie Haas, Zurich, CH (2016). The artist’s work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions including: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); “Let the Sunshine In,” Pilar Corrias, London, UK (2023); “Passages,” Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, DE (2020); “Age of Terror: Art Since 9/11,” Imperial War Museum, London, UK (2017); “It’s a Women’s World,” Galerie Martina Kaiser, Cologne, DE (2013); “Awakenings,” Felix Ringel Galerie, Düsseldorf, DE (2010); and “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly,” Culturrcentrum Mechelen, Mechelen, DE (2010).

Michael Simpson (b. 1940 in Dorset, UK) is an artist and writer based in Wiltshire, United Kingdom. Simpson studied at Bournemouth College of Art (Poole, UK) and Royal College of Art (London, UK). Simpson’s work has been the subject of solo and two-person exhibitions at the following venues: “New Paintings,” Modern Art, London, UK (2024); “Drawing towards painting,” Holburne Museum Bath, Bath, UK (2023); “Paintings,” GIANT, Bournemouth, UK (2022); “Squint Paintings,” Arco, Madrid, ES (2022); “New Paintings,” Blain Southern, London, UK (2020); “Selected works of Michael Simpson,” Minsheng Museum of Art, Shanghai, CN (2018); “Squint,” Blain Southern, Berlin, DE (2017); “Flat Surface Painting,” David Risely Gallery, Copenhagen, DK (2016). The artist’s work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions including: “The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy,” Tara Downs, New York, US (2024); Modern Art, London, UK (2024); Modern Art, Paris, FR (2023); “Acquisitions 2016-2021,” Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, DK (2021); “Works,” Simon Lee Gallery, London, UK (2020); “Class Reunion, works from the Gaby & Wilhelm Schürmann Collection, Museum Moderner, Vienna, AT (2018).