Carey Young

Hold These Truths (2017)

• Cautionary Statement, 2007
  Vinyl text
  51.18  x 44.64 inches
  Edition 1 of 3 + 1 AP
  Thanks to Jay Swanson, Dorsey and Whitney LLP, Minneapolis for legal assistance Courtesy of the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Cautionary Statement recontextualizes the disclaimers attached to forecasted earnings in corporate annual reports. Installed near the reception desk at the artist’s request, the work might function as a warning for viewers to question the truth of the works in the exhibition—or the ideas they seek to express. Young continues to explore the absurdity of ascribing values in Counter Offer (2008), a two-part work in which one part offers Liberty,  the other, Justice. Each offer, however, is “automatically withdrawn on the making of a counter offer,” creating an endless legal loop in which it is impossible to gain either liberty or justice.