?I use words because they speak out to the viewer. Words come from us. We can relate to them. they bridge the gap between the viewer and the piece.? (Robert Barry) Words are essential elements in Barry’s work. They evoke in the viewer a state of contemplation and personal experience. Series of installations exhibited in 2009 at Galerie Greta Meert.

Closed Gallery is a 1969 piece consisting of three invitations to gallery shows in Amsterdam, Turin, and Los Angeles printed on simple white cards. They informed the recipients that during the exhibition, the gallery would be closed. “It’s the purest form of this notion of what the physicality of art is and what art is really all about. One doesn’t need to even have the gallery space", said David Platzker, who sent out numerous announcement cards worldwide, each saying simply “During the exhibition the gallery will be closed”. “I got permission from Robert [Barry] to do the show,” Platzker said. “I asked him if he would lend me copies of the three prior announcement cards and he said, ‘Why would you want them? There is no show. I don’t want people to come to the gallery because the gallery is closed.’