Description

Mitchell Syrop’s THERE IS NO DEVICE TO RECORD IT explores the tension between language, technology, and perception.

Contextually, this piece fits into Syrop's ongoing investigation of language as both a visual and conceptual medium. Rendered in bold, drippy white letters against a black background, the words seem to melt or distort, dissolving into a striking visual statement. Its message responds to the technological promise of infinite memory and recording, reinforcing the idea that some moments, feelings, or truths are too elusive to be captured by any device, whether mechanical or linguistic. 

Originally created in 2003, THERE IS NO DEVICE TO RECORD IT was reimagined as a mural on the exterior wall of François Ghebaly Gallery in 2013. That same year, a limited edition of 10 silkscreen prints was produced but never released—until now. This exclusive print is available for the first time, offering collectors a rare opportunity to own an edition that exemplifies Syrop’s exploration of language, memory, and perception. 

About the Artist

Mitchell Syrop (b. 1953, Yonkers, NY) lives and works in Los Angeles, where he earned his MFA from CalArts in 1978. He has exhibited widely over the years, including solo exhibitions at Francois Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Thomas Solomon Gallery, Los Angeles; Croy Nielsen, Berlin, Germany; Galeria Oliva Arauna, Madrid; Richard Kuhlenschmidt Gallery, Los Angeles; The Santa Monica Museum of Art (now the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles); Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles; Galeria Oliva Arauna, Madrid; WPA Gallery, Los Angeles; Lieberman & Saul Gallery, New York; and the Matrix Gallery, University of California, Berkeley.

He has participated in numerous group exhibitions including Objects of Desire: Photography and the Language of Advertising, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); Where Art Might Happen: The early years of CalArts, Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover, Germany and Kunsthaus Graz; Vienna, Austria; the 2013 California-Pacific Triennial, at The Orange County Museum of Art; California Video, J. Paul Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; On the Line, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions; “Good Morning Midnight,” Casey Kaplan Gallery, NYC; “Index: Conceptualism in California,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; “A Forest of Signs: Art in the Crisis of Representation,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; “Commodity Image,” the International Center for Photography, New York, and Kunsthal Rotterdam. 

His work is in a number of permanent collections including: the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the International Center of Photography, New York.