Tag Archives: conceptual art

RIP Lawrence Weiner (1942 – 2021)

“Wind And The Willows” from ‘Monsters from the Deep’ (1997), probably based on the artwork of 1995 of the same title.

Lawrence Weiner is an American artist who made visual poetry and who wrote the art manifesto “Declaration of Intent” (1968).

He designed the Quando Quango and Section 25 poster for Factory Records in 1985.

With Ned Sublette, he released the albums Ships At Sea, Sailors & Shoes (1993) and Monsters from the Deep (1997).

In Antwerp, his poem “Iron and gold in the air, dust and smoke on the ground” is on permanent display at the Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum.

RIP John ‘dots over people’s faces’ Baldessari (1931 – 2020)

John Baldessari was an American artist.

A short documentary on Baldessari’s work and legacy narrated by Tom Waits.

A typical Baldessari work is Painting for Kubler (1967–68) which is a painting of a text paraphrasing five theses from art historian George Kubler’s book The Shape of Time (1962).

The text reads:

“This painting owes its existence to prior paintings. By liking this solution, you should not be blocked in your continued acceptance of prior inventions. To attain this position, ideas of former painting had to be rethought in order to transcend former work. To like this painting, you will have to understand prior work. Ultimately this work will amalgamate with the existing body of knowledge.”

In his own analysis, he said he would be best remembered as “the guy who puts dots over people’s faces.”