A composite portrait of a wandering dandy scholar whose life and art merged in the margins of the art world
Warren Niesluchowski (1946–2019), one of the most charismatic and eccentric figures in the art world, was at once an exhilarating conversationalist, a polymath, an attentive companion of artists, a polyglot translator, a networker without status, a walking bibliography and a dandy, to name a few. From 2003 till the end of his life, he had no home of his own, instead traveling from city to city to live as the guest of others. He lived—as he himself used to say, paraphrasing Duchamp and Derrida—the life of a “guest, host, ghost.”
This publication focuses on Niesluchowski’s homeless years, and features his email correspondence with close friends, many of whom are remarkable artists and intellectuals; artworks made about, or in partnership with, Niesluchowski; and documentation of his travels. This material offers a complex picture of a radical, transcultural existence, with contributions from Barry Schwabsky and Carol Szymanski, Bettina Funcke, Joan Jonas, Michael Taussig, Raymond Pettibon, Rebecca Quaytman and many more.
