Representatives of conceptual art and their works

Image: Fahrenheit Magazine

With the conceptual art, an artistic movement that was born in the mid-sixties, new ways of understanding art were given very far, at that time, from what we were used to seeing, and that is that, in conceptual art, more than the artistic realization itself, what prevails is the idea, the concept. Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER, we will offer you a short list about representatives of conceptual art and their works most outstanding.

Index

1. Marcel Duchamp and the origins of conceptual art
2. Joseph Kosuth
3. Robert Rauschenberg
4. Yves klein
5. Piero manzoni

As we have already said, concept art took place in the mid-1960s as a form of vindicate against formalism and its origins must be sought in the ready - mades, an idea carried out by the Frenchman Marcel Duchamp between the years 1910 - 1920.

And it is that conceptual art can be manifested through various means such as video art, installations, performance... and, of course,

Among the most significant works of him we have to mention, The Bicycle Wheel which is nothing more than an inverted bicycle wheel, resting on a wooden bench. Y The fountain, a male urinal inverted 90º from his original position and signed with his pseudonym “R Mutt”.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the definition and characteristics of conceptual art.

Image: La Diaria

Joseph Kosuth (American) was another of the pioneering artists who was active in this type of art since the mid-1950s. Kosuth, explored new ideas from those that Duchamp developed on the ready - made and his approach was as follows: the world is made of definitions and concepts about what exists, that is, the object exists as matter but it is not until it acquires a concept that it has a true meaning, forming part of the world of ideas.

Among his most outstanding works we find One and three chairs, in which he represented in the middle a folding wooden chair, on one side a photograph of it, and on the other, the definition of the word chair.

Joseph Kosuth, through this work what he wanted us to do was make us reflect on which of the three media that appeared the identity of the object was found and that is always a work of art will be equivalent to an idea, subjective and, as such, multitudinous.

Robert Rauschenberg was an American painter and artist who rose to fame beginning in the 1950s with the Pop art, being one of the main representatives in his country, but also with conceptual art.

In 1953, Rauschenberg shows a Drawing by Willem De Kooning, one of the highest representatives of abstract expressionism, which he himself erased. When the work was exhibited, there were many questions that aroused among the spectators about the fundamental nature of art, and that is that the public wondered if erasing a drawing by another artist could be considered a creative act, just because Rauschenberg had done it, but… what about Willem de Kooning's drawing?

As we can see, what is intended through this conceptual art is at all times to question ourselves, criticize it, explore it... finally arrive at a reflection.

Image: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Yves Klein already announced that “nothing will be a work of art because I decide”, An idea closely linked to conceptual art since, as we said at the beginning, conceptual art has been regarded as anti-art.

Yves Klein was at all times aware that what he was doing was not a work of art, however, it went down in history among other things for works that, with the non-artistic label, attracted so much attention that they were considered true works of art.

One of his most significant works was Aerostatic Sculpture (1957),a work that consisted of 1,001 blue balloons which were launched on the air from the Parisian gallery Iris Clert with which he wanted to promote his Monochrome Proposition.

And it is that most of Klein's work was to focus on monochrome paintings, especially blue, which he eventually wanted to take further with works of art that could be considered true spectacles such as the one in this work, launching blue balloons, which with the background of the sky also blue, could be seen within monochrome, the variety of colors that exist.

Image: Antrophistoria

Piero Manzoni was an Italian artist, famous for the celebrated works of conceptual art of him, that among other things were the most ironic of this style. We are going to see what were some of his most significant works so that we understand the term irony.

Merda d'artista (Artist's shit) is without going any further the title of one of his most controversial works, exhibited in 1961 at the Galleria Pescetto. The work consisted of 90 cylindrical cans, which supposedly contain his feces. In addition, on cans, like any other, the following labels appear in various languages: Net content: 30 grams. Preserved in nature. Produced and packaged in May 1961. Each and every one of them is listed and signed by him at the top.

With this work he wanted to make a strong criticism against the art market where a simple signature of an artist with a certain reputation increases the value of the work, even if what is inside is simply "shit."

And it is that, without going any further, not long ago one of these cans went up for auction and reached the surprising price of 275,000 euros, and it is It seems that time has wanted to agree with Manzoni, because in this consumer society where we live, everything can happen through art.

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