Conceptual art
Tony Godfrey
London : Phaidon Press, 1998
447 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 22 cm
N6494 .C63 G63 1998
One of the strength’s of Godfrey’s approach to Conceptual art is his foregrounding of the movement (if it can be considered one at all; this is certainly a subject for debate by its participants and theorists) by its predecessors: Dada, Neo-Dada, Happenings, Fluxus, Minimalism, Pop et al. Such contextual background highlights what was new and reactionary about the art of the 1960s and 1970s, and what was a continuation of earlier theoretical and stylistic explorations. Godfrey’s classification of the varieties of Conceptual art is similar to that of Anne Rorimer in her New Art in the 60s and 70s (serialism, linguistic focus, institutional critique, photograph as document, etc.), but he places more focus upon formal matters, gallerists and collectors, work by non-American artists, and parallel movements outside of the visual arts.
Tony Godfrey
London : Phaidon Press, 1998
447 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 22 cm
N6494 .C63 G63 1998
One of the strength’s of Godfrey’s approach to Conceptual art is his foregrounding of the movement (if it can be considered one at all; this is certainly a subject for debate by its participants and theorists) by its predecessors: Dada, Neo-Dada, Happenings, Fluxus, Minimalism, Pop et al. Such contextual background highlights what was new and reactionary about the art of the 1960s and 1970s, and what was a continuation of earlier theoretical and stylistic explorations. Godfrey’s classification of the varieties of Conceptual art is similar to that of Anne Rorimer in her New Art in the 60s and 70s (serialism, linguistic focus, institutional critique, photograph as document, etc.), but he places more focus upon formal matters, gallerists and collectors, work by non-American artists, and parallel movements outside of the visual arts.
Conceptual art
edited by Peter Osborne
London ; New York : Phaidon, 2002
304 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm
N6494 .C63 C587 2002 F
As with all of the texts in the Themes and Movements series, Osborne's includes a lengthy survey essay that is nuanced enough to provide a cursory introduction to the forerunners, practitioners, theories, and pervasive themes of Conceptual art. Its biggest value lies, however, in its large set of well-annotated images and its thematically organized compendium of [sometimes abridged] textual primary sources. It includes such iconic essays and transcribed documents as Sol LeWitt's "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art," Joseph Kosuth's "Art After Philosophy," and Seth Siegelaub's "Artist's Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement" (The original of this last item can be found in our Locked Stacks Collection; it is also addressed in detail in Maria Eichhorn's set of interviews, The Artist's Contract.).
edited by Peter Osborne
London ; New York : Phaidon, 2002
304 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm
N6494 .C63 C587 2002 F
As with all of the texts in the Themes and Movements series, Osborne's includes a lengthy survey essay that is nuanced enough to provide a cursory introduction to the forerunners, practitioners, theories, and pervasive themes of Conceptual art. Its biggest value lies, however, in its large set of well-annotated images and its thematically organized compendium of [sometimes abridged] textual primary sources. It includes such iconic essays and transcribed documents as Sol LeWitt's "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art," Joseph Kosuth's "Art After Philosophy," and Seth Siegelaub's "Artist's Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement" (The original of this last item can be found in our Locked Stacks Collection; it is also addressed in detail in Maria Eichhorn's set of interviews, The Artist's Contract.).
New art in the 60s and 70s : redefining reality.
Anne Rorimer.
London : Thames & Hudson, 2001.
304 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
N6490 .R67 2001
Rorimer's thorough survey takes a thematic approach, dividing the topic of Conceptual art into sections treating photography, the changing meaning of "medium," the use of systems, the exploration of subjectivity, and the concept of site. She places extended focus upon individual artists and specific works as they apply to these themes and provides a comprehensive historical and philosophical background for the artistic developments she is tracing. Indeed, aside from its somewhat plodding cadence, the book provides a remarkably complete introduction to Conceptual art; it can be considered the authoritative monograph on the topic. For a more nuanced discussion of the role of women artists and of influences from the other arts (music, literature, etc.), see Tony Godfrey's Conceptual Art. See also Rorimer and Ann Goldstein's exhibition catalog Reconsidering the Object of Art: 1965–1975, which introduces the topic through individual artist entries.
Anne Rorimer.
London : Thames & Hudson, 2001.
304 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
N6490 .R67 2001
Rorimer's thorough survey takes a thematic approach, dividing the topic of Conceptual art into sections treating photography, the changing meaning of "medium," the use of systems, the exploration of subjectivity, and the concept of site. She places extended focus upon individual artists and specific works as they apply to these themes and provides a comprehensive historical and philosophical background for the artistic developments she is tracing. Indeed, aside from its somewhat plodding cadence, the book provides a remarkably complete introduction to Conceptual art; it can be considered the authoritative monograph on the topic. For a more nuanced discussion of the role of women artists and of influences from the other arts (music, literature, etc.), see Tony Godfrey's Conceptual Art. See also Rorimer and Ann Goldstein's exhibition catalog Reconsidering the Object of Art: 1965–1975, which introduces the topic through individual artist entries.
Who's afraid of conceptual art?
Peter Goldie and Elisabeth Schellekens.
London ; New York : Routledge, 2010. 1st ed.
viii, 152 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.
N6494 .C63 G64 2010
This relatively brief treatise serves two main purposes: to, as the title suggests, ease the uninitiated into the discourse of Conceptual art, and to provide a relatively (and sometimes deceptively) simple discussion of its philosophical engagement. The result is an introduction to the field that very methodically and unimposingly dissects what Conceptual art is in an ontological sense and suggests how one might appreciate it. An exhaustive survey it is not, but it does situate the movement in an art historical moment, provide a sense of what Conceptual art was and is responding to and breaking from, and, through examples, introduce the work of Conceptual artists from the late 1960s to the present. For a more theory-heavy set of essays on a similar topic, see Goldie and Schellekens' edited collection of essays, Philosophy and Conceptual Art.
Peter Goldie and Elisabeth Schellekens.
London ; New York : Routledge, 2010. 1st ed.
viii, 152 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.
N6494 .C63 G64 2010
This relatively brief treatise serves two main purposes: to, as the title suggests, ease the uninitiated into the discourse of Conceptual art, and to provide a relatively (and sometimes deceptively) simple discussion of its philosophical engagement. The result is an introduction to the field that very methodically and unimposingly dissects what Conceptual art is in an ontological sense and suggests how one might appreciate it. An exhaustive survey it is not, but it does situate the movement in an art historical moment, provide a sense of what Conceptual art was and is responding to and breaking from, and, through examples, introduce the work of Conceptual artists from the late 1960s to the present. For a more theory-heavy set of essays on a similar topic, see Goldie and Schellekens' edited collection of essays, Philosophy and Conceptual Art.