That the title of this exhibition, “Dennis Balk: Early Work 1890–2090,” turned out to seem plausible was only the first of its many twists. Sixty photographs, sculptures, drawings on tablecloths and napkins, videos, silk screens, found objects, installations, collages, and pieces of mail art surveyed an artist so omnivorous, so much a living kunstkammer, that anything felt possible.

The credo uniting Balk’s disparate output appeared on a piece of laminated paper embedded within Photo Magnetic Receiver, installation component, 2009, a rambling, collagelike installation made from found and fabricated