Please Touch: Marcel Duchamp and the Fetish

The first of its kind, Thaddaeus Ropac’s exhibition “Please Touch: Marcel Duchamp and the Fetish” looks at the recurring themes of fetishism and the fetish throughout Duchamp’s artistic oeuvre. Curated by Paul B. Franklin, the show (open through November 13) sheds light on the eroticism that lies—whether apparent or discretely—at the base of much of the artist’s work, which is often left overlooked. The titular work, a fake breast wrapped in velvet called Prière de toucher (Please Touch), playfully undermines typical gallery etiquette, suggesting visitors at the gallery are now participants in something mischievous. Other featured works include those like the 1919 Mona Lisa re-imagined with facial hair, L.H.O.O.Q., the torturous-looking Porte-bouteilles (Bottle Rack) from 1964, and the hand-colored photograph Couverture-cigarettes.