"Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns."
Art characterized by the emphasis on the idea or concept behind the artwork, rather than the finished product, developed in the United States and Europe during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Marcel Duchamp: An artist who was a key figure in the development of Conceptual Art, known for his "readymades" which were everyday objects turned into art through the act of signing them.
Sol LeWitt: An American artist who worked primarily in sculpture and drawing, and is known for his use of simple geometric shapes and patterns.
Lawrence Weiner: An American artist who worked primarily in installation and sculpture, and is known for his use of language to create art.
Yoko Ono: An artist and musician who was a key figure in the Fluxus movement, known for her avant-garde and political works.
John Baldessari: An American artist who worked in a variety of media, including painting, photography, and installation, and is known for his conceptual approach to art-making.
Joseph Kosuth: An American artist who is often credited with coining the term "conceptual art," and is known for his use of text and language in his work.
Dan Graham: An American artist who worked primarily in installation and sculpture, and is known for his use of mirrors and other reflective surfaces in his work.
Barbara Kruger: An American artist who worked primarily in photography and collage, and is known for her use of text and image to critique consumer culture and popular media.
Robert Morris: An American artist who worked in sculpture and performance, and is known for his theoretical writings on art and his exploration of space and form.
Hans Haacke: A German artist who worked in installation and sculpture, and is known for his critical commentary on politics and society.
Fluxus: An art movement that emerged in the 1960s and sought to blur the boundaries between art and life, often through playful and irreverent works that challenged conventional notions of art.
Minimalism: An art movement that emerged in the 1960s and focused on simple geometric shapes and industrial materials as a means of creating art that emphasized its own physicality and materiality.
Postmodernism: An art movement that emerged in the late 20th century and sought to deconstruct and critique the assumptions and structures of modernism, often through the use of parody, irony, and appropriation.
Institutional critique: A form of conceptual art that seeks to critique and expose the structures of power and authority within the art world and other cultural institutions.
Appropriation: A technique used in conceptual art that involves taking existing images or objects and recontextualizing them to create new meanings or commentaries on the original source material.
Performance art: The focus is on live performance, in which the artist is the actor or performer, performing scripted or improvised actions in front of an audience.
Installation art: Artworks that are designed to be displayed in a specific environment or location, often incorporating various elements such as light, sound, and found objects.
Land art: Art that is created in natural landscapes, using the natural elements such as rocks, soil, and vegetation.
Video art: Artworks that use video technology to create moving images, often incorporating other elements such as sound and text.
Digital art: Artworks that are created using digital technology, such as computer software and hardware, and are often interactive and immersive.
Mail art: Artworks that are sent through the mail, often with the intention of creating a network of artists communicating with one another.
Fluxus: An art movement that emerged in the 1960s, characterized by a focus on playful and unconventional forms of art-making.
Performance score: A written or visual instruction that directs performers in the creation of a live or recorded performance.
Social practice: Art that is produced through social engagement, often involving collaborations and participatory processes.
Conceptual photography: Photography that is conceptually driven, using photographic techniques to explore intellectual and philosophical ideas.
"Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called installations, may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions."
"The idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art."
"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."
"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."
"Conceptual artists such as Art & Language, Joseph Kosuth, and Lawrence Weiner began a far more radical interrogation of art than was previously possible."
"Through its association with the Young British Artists and the Turner Prize during the 1990s, in popular usage, particularly in the United Kingdom, 'conceptual art' came to denote all contemporary art that does not practice the traditional skills of painting and sculpture."
"As the artist Mel Bochner suggested as early as 1970, in explaining why he does not like the epithet 'conceptual', it is not always entirely clear what 'concept' refers to, and it runs the risk of being confused with 'intention'."
"With the emergence of an exclusively language-based art in the 1960s, however, conceptual artists began a far more radical interrogation of art than was previously possible."
"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."
"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."
"In conceptual art, the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns."
"Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called installations, may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions."
"This method was fundamental to American artist Sol LeWitt's definition of conceptual art, one of the first to appear in print."
"The idea becomes a machine that makes the art."
"With the emergence of an exclusively language-based art in the 1960s, however, conceptual artists such as Art & Language, Joseph Kosuth, and Lawrence Weiner began a far more radical interrogation of art than was previously possible."
"In popular usage, particularly in the United Kingdom, 'conceptual art' came to denote all contemporary art that does not practice the traditional skills of painting and sculpture."
"It is important not to confuse what is referred to as 'conceptual' with an artist's 'intention'."
"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."
"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."