(Courtesy Flickr)

Clifford Owens, who is fresh off a solo show at MoMA PS1, has parted with his long-time gallery On Stellar Rays. His name had been removed from the gallery's web site and Candice Madey, the owner of On Stellar Rays, confirmed the news with us today, saying that he left around April.

"It was a decision we made together," Ms. Madey said.

Mr. Owens has been with the Lower East Side gallery since it opened in 2008. The gallery's second show was a solo exhibition of work by Mr. Owens. An e-mail sent to Mr. Owens Friday afternoon has not been returned as of this writing.

Mr. Owens's exhibition at PS1, in which the artist interpreted performance scores given to him by other artists, was the source of some controversy, which we reported back in March, that resulted in Kara Walker withdrawing her participation. Her score was:

“French kiss an audience member. Force them against a wall and demand Sex. The audience/viewer should be an adult. If they are willing to participate in the forced sex act abruptly turn the tables and you assume the role of victim. Accuse your attacker. Seek help from others, describe your ordeal. Repeat.”

At that time, Ms. Walker claimed she intended the score as "hypothetical." She later backtracked and joined Mr. Owens for his final live performance at PS1. A book about the exhibition, featuring essays by Huey Copeland, John Bowles and PS1 assistant curator Christopher Y. Lew, will be released September 30.