Copenhagen/Stuttgart/Chalon sur Saone/Madrid

Concept Art

In the second half of the 1960s, Concept Art experienced an unprecedented surge in the United States through numerous manifestations. In Europe, the most significant artists of the international scene were discovered through exhibitions such as "Concept Art" in Leverkusen, "Art Remains Art" at Project 74 in the Wallraff-Richartz Museum in Cologne, and "When Attitudes Become Form" in the Kunsthalle Bern.

The starting point of the radical strategies of the artists and the basis of their works is the visualization of artistic information in the written language.

From now on, the unique object—resulting from production and serving as the basis of art consumption—is no longer of interest. On the contrary, the focus of the strategy lies in defining an informational and utilitarian structure, without which a work would not be realizable.

Twenty years later, this exhibition now unites the most important Concept Art protagonists at various locations across Europe to present the artistic works of the participating artists, addressing conceptual questions without which contemporary production cannot be thought of.

Artists: Vincenzo Agnetti, William Anastasi, Marcel Broodthaers, On Kawara, Joseph Kosuth, Yutaka Matsuzawa, Lawrence Weiner, Les Levine.

Locations:

• Stalke Gallery, Copenhagen: 6.12.–21.1.89
• Brigitte March Gallery, Stuttgart: 3.2.–20.3.89
• Espace des Arts, Chalon sur Saone: 9.6.–30.7.89
• Fundación MAPFRE VIDA, Madrid: Fall 1989–Winter 1990

Yves Michel Bernard

Brain Gymnastics

CONCEPT ART. Stalke Gallery, Vesterbrogade 15. Tuesday-Saturday 11 am-6 pm. Until January 24.

It is quite remarkable that Stalke has succeeded in arranging the first exhibition in Denmark of concept art, even though this art form has its roots in the 1960s and has been a dominant feature of the artistic avant-garde ever since. Moreover, the gallery has managed to include a number of concept art veterans, both living and deceased, in the exhibition, several of whom have never exhibited together before.

Thus, in the gallery's beautiful premises on Vesterbrogade, you can see works by prominent figures such as Americans Joseph Kosuth and Lawrence Weiner, as well as Vincenzo Agnetti, Marcel Broodthaers, William Anastasi, Les Levine, and Yokuta Matsuzawa. Each artist exhibits one or two works or a series. Of what? Well, that's the question.

Concept art builds, as the name implies, on a fundamental idea, and the idea often involves asking questions. It is not so much about showing and seeing as about minimizing the expression to the exemplary simple – and yet deeply complex. The thought process occurs not only with the artist but should also take place with the viewer, which, as we know, can be challenging...

Concept art does not primarily use images but words, which in turn are meant to create images in the viewer's mind. For example, Lawrence Weiner has created a small sentence, almost sphinx-like, in blue and white, specifically for Stalke Gallery's wall, where it reads: "A little + a little until a jar is full" – and so it goes throughout. On the whole, it is an exhibition that demands its man or woman. The words resonate with Les Levine: "Create Yourself."

And that is exactly what it does. To the extent that it is possible. Occasionally, the artists have created something of great aesthetic and moral beauty. Like Joseph Kosuth's large glass plate with the impossible equation "The square root minus one" in black silk screen print, or the Japanese Matsuzawa's earthly creation and destruction processes, hidden as words under the most beautiful garments.

Here is something for Danish museums to take note of, as they are not exactly overwhelmed with concept art. And here is something for that part of the avant-garde that values intellectual mathematics, where mental gymnastics twist around square roots.

Henrik Wivel/Berlingske

No Questions

Conceptual Art. Stalke Gallery, Vesterbrogade 15. Until January 24.

FOR THE EYE, which over the recent years has become accustomed to neo-expressionism's intense bombardment of colors and extreme forms, it may be difficult to adjust to the discreet, if not expressionless, means employed by conceptual art. Here, the senses are not stimulated; instead, the viewer is challenged to engage in a concentrated mental effort.

Conceptual art? It’s been a few years since it was in focus, but now it’s back. If one has forgotten (or repressed) what conceptual art stands for, Stalke offers a relatively small but dense exhibition, an excellent refresher course in its strategies.

The American William Anastasi presents an interesting test of boundaries with two paintings. A large painting, painted entirely black, features a single word etched into it, graphically pronounced: "Jew." A whole arsenal of emotions is immediately mobilized in front of this image. Persecution of Jews, brownshirts, the Holocaust have all been summoned to the scene. The word is a loaded address; the clap of its presence stirs. The means are few, the impact great. But the image is also anecdotal, and it appeals with cold calculation to us.

Look at Anastasi’s other painting with the same "motif." It’s smaller, the background is no longer black, and the word "Jew" (this time in English) is not etched with an uncertain hand but stands precisely stenciled. Associations are triggered here too, but they no longer tie directly to a historical situation. The image provides food for thought: about a concept, a race, a nation, a persecuted minority, a geopolitical knot, an intellectual ferment in European and American culture, and so on. Only the combination of concept and language directs us—away from the Bible and history and toward the present. The small image encompasses much more than it directly shows. And that is a piece of conceptual art.

The artists combine text and image. There is an understated challenge—sometimes overthought—with tautology, contradictions, and possible chains of associations, such as when Les Levine connects words like "loose," "grab," and "desire" in a painting. Relations of meaning are explored, as when Vincenzo Agnetti inserts subtle statements about time, progression, and (physical) dimensions in black-on-black or white-on-black, on perfectly crafted, almost industrially produced plates and discs, whose forms may mirror or comment on the statement. A particularly beautiful fusion of the visual and the conceptual is achieved by the Japanese artist Matsuzawa, who uses dust trails in various colors to cover concepts linked to them: black/earth, blue/water, red/fire—all obvious until we reach pink, which covers consciousness, a dark blue over time, and a dark red over catastrophe.

Conceptual art short-circuits the connection between idea and execution precisely because it is premeditated. “As said, so done.” Place, environment, and external references are of no interest. Lawrence Weiner’s work, a text stenciled directly on the gallery wall, is accompanied by instructions on how it should be presented. The installation functions like a tattoo, indifferent to where in the gallery it is placed, says Weiner. The exhibition organizers can choose format and placement as best suits the given situation.

CONCEPTUAL ART lives on a knife’s edge between intellectual sparring and stimulating provocation. Value judgments are destructive to what it’s really about: curiosity and openness, as John Cage said in the late 1970s. With Marcel Duchamp as a precursor and a hint of Dadaism in its rebellion against the art institution, this extremely self-referential art almost hermetically closes in on itself. Every traditional notion of quality, artistic materials, and aesthetics is disconnected. Conceptual art asks no questions. But precisely by doing so, it opens directly to a multitude of matters concerning everything it doesn’t touch: the function and placement of art in society, for example. See for yourself—and think about it.

Øystein Hjort

CONCEPT ART

Brigitte March Gallery, Stuttgart
17.2.–8.4.89
Espace des Arts, Chalon/s. Saône
9.6.–30.7.89
Stalke Gallery, Copenhagen
6.12.88–24.1.89

The end of a certain conception of art seemed to be announced about 20 years ago with the first manifestations of Concept Art in the USA. Today, conceptual questions are inherent to every kind of artistic statement and, in principle, have probably always been so.

The most important pioneers from back then and to a large extent still active participants today have been brought together at various exhibition venues through the organization of gallery owner Brigitte March: Agnetti, Anastasi, Broodthaers, Kawara, Kosuth, Les Levine, Matsuzawa, Weiner.

The tendency of Concept Art to largely exclude visual elements and to rely on written language as its medium is a central strategy shared by all exhibits. Language is used as a starting point for analysis at a certain level, as was already formulated in the program of the group Art+Language: “An art form can evolve by taking as a point of initial enquiry the language-use of the art society.” This statement assumes that language structures our perception and therefore significantly influences our reception of art.

From the perspective of visual-syntactic and linguistic-semantic artistic practice, Joseph Kosuth's work The Square Root of Minus One is to be understood. Presented for the first time as an installation and silkscreen, it is exhibited in the various galleries.

A certain measure of language-based poetry is characteristic of Lawrence Weiner's word-sentences, such as: “A BIT + A BIT UNTIL A POT IS FULL.” The realization of the concept is often left to the gallery owners, who may refer to instructions provided by the artist, as inherent in the concept.

Marcel Broodthaers' contribution, a letter displayed in 1969 at the Museum Schloss Morsbroich/Leverkusen during the exhibition Konzept-Conception, reflects on the nature and function of art and its presentation in the museum.

As a "media sculptor," as he calls himself, Les Levine targets the passive behavior of consumers with his image-text combinations. The 15 large posters installed in central locations in Stuttgart’s city center, at first glance resembling commercial advertisements, bear messages like: “Pray for More,” “Consume or Perish”. However, the observer, seeking a product in vain, becomes aware of a critique of meaningless consumer behavior. This critique becomes evident through the aesthetic message.

A lasting impression is created by the installation Eshiki-Ron Kasaya by the Japanese artist Yutaka Matsuzawa. As the co-founder of a Japanese branch of Concept Art, which developed in Japan almost independently of Western influences since 1964, Matsuzawa is closely aligned with the spiritual world of Zen Buddhism.

The artist selected colorful cloths representing monks’ robes. Behind each cloth is a handwritten sheet with the inscription “Sunyata” (emptiness). The meaning of this statement is: color is illusion, a distraction. A saying of Buddha reads: “Whoever clings neither to this world nor to the beyond is free.” Why then cling to color?

The meditative power of the aesthetic message transcends the visible and leads to an intuitive understanding of a spiritual attitude that remains inaccessible to our logical thinking.

BARBARA WÖRWAG

Concept Art on Its Way Back

Eight Conceptual Artists at Galleri Stalke

Now that neo-expressionist painting seems to be losing its status as the "new wave" — or perhaps we should rather say: losing its grip on the public? — interest is once again turning to other, previously overlooked movements from the last two decades of the avant-garde. They may not be as overlooked as one might think. If one uses auction and gallery prices as a yardstick, it is clear that minimalism and conceptual art — dominant movements in the 1960s and 1970s — are once again in vogue. They have been the necessary backdrop for the more reflective and analytically oriented art of the 1980s. Now neo-conceptualism is here, and minimalism has simultaneously been elevated to classic status.

An unusual opportunity to assess the efforts of conceptual artists in the intervening years — when they were, so to speak, overshadowed by expressionist painting — is now presented by Galleri Stalke. In collaboration with Galerie Brigitte March in Stuttgart and Espace des Arts in Chalon, the gallery presents eight conceptual artists starting Wednesday:

• The Belgian Marcel Broodthaers, who passed away in 1976,
• The late Italian Vincenzo Agnetti (who published a beautiful book on Eva Sørensen's sculptures and drawings in 1982),
• The Americans William Anastasi, Joseph Kosuth, Les Levine, and Lawrence Weiner,
• The Japanese artists On Kawara and Yokuta Matsuzawa.

These artists work with text as an image.

The language, in its new pictorial context, creates both visual and logical conflict situations, where theory is presented as practice, and the works can formulate a critique of contemporary cultural production as well as their own philosophy. Joseph Kosuth saw the function of conceptual art as a counterplay to "the fossilized formalism that characterized official art of the 1960s." Today, he sees it as an urgent necessity because we have reached a point in history where art must either be rediscovered or reinvented anew if its potential is ever to be realized.

Big words, big demands! But starting Tuesday, conceptual art is on display at Vesterbrogade15

By Øystein Hjort/Politiken

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