Description
Tony Godfrey, author of Conceptual Art (Art & Ideas) (1998), asserts that conceptual art questions the nature of art, a notion that Joseph Kosuth elevated to a definition of art itself in his seminal, early manifesto of conceptual art, Art after Philosophy (1969). The notion that art should examine its own nature was already a potent aspect of the influential art critic Clement Greenberg's vision of Modern art during the 1950s. With the emergence of an exclusively language-based art in the 1960s, however, conceptual artists such as Art & Language, Joseph Kosuth (who became the American editor of Art-Language), and Lawrence Weiner began a far more radical interrogation of art than was previously possible (see below). One of the first and most important things they questioned was the common assumption that the role of the artist was to create special kinds of material objects. Read more ↗
Key Artists
Sol LeWitt
Key pioneer who defined the principles of Conceptual art in his 1967 essay 'Paragraphs on Conceptual Art', asserting that the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.
Joseph Kosuth
Founding figure and author of 'Art After Philosophy' (1969), who elevated linguistic inquiry and tautological definition to the core of artistic practice.
Lawrence Weiner
Radical conceptualist whose 1968 'Declaration of Intent' established that an artwork can exist purely as language on a wall or in the viewer's mind without physical construction.
John Baldessari
Influential American artist who combined text, photography, and irony to dismantle traditional aesthetic conventions and art teaching methodologies.
Hans Haacke
Leading figure of institutional critique who exposed the hidden socio-political and corporate power systems governing museum practices.
Mel Ramsden
Core member of the British collective Art & Language, which published the seminal journal Art-Language and rigorously interrogated the philosophical boundaries of art.
Famous Artworks
Wall Drawing #1141
Sol LeWitt · 1968
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York - Acrylic and graphite on wall executed according to written instructions
Cremation Project
John Baldessari · 1970
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles - Urn with ashes of cremated paintings and bronze plaque
MoMA Poll
Hans Haacke · 1970
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York - Installation with ballot boxes and photoelectric counting device
Fun Facts
In his 1967 essay 'Paragraphs on Conceptual Art', Sol LeWitt famously declared: 'In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work... all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair.'
↗ Source: tate.org.uk
The landmark 1970 exhibition 'Information' at the Museum of Modern Art in New York was the first major U.S. museum survey of Conceptual art, featuring nearly 100 artists and collectives from 15 countries.
↗ Source: moma.org
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