Curated by Catherine Moseley, this touring exhibition from the Norwich Gallery, Norwich School of Art and Design in England focuses on the key years of the development of Conceptual art, now recognized as one of the most critical developments in the globalization of contemporary art.
In the late 1960s, artists within the conceptual movement eschewed form and aesthetics as a means of verifying art objects; they tested the structures within which work was exhibited, distributed and purchased; they queried the relationship of the artist to society, working in a climate of anti-authoritarianism and excitement about new technology. The term “document” encompasses a range of media such as photography, text, maps, telegrams, film and sound recording. The document existed and continues to exist as a means for artists to record or communicate ideas, processes and analyses, to employ a highly theorized self-reflexivity while embracing ideas about creative freedom and anti-materialism.
The exhibition includes 150 documents by over 40 international artists including: John Baldessari, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Marcel Broodthaers, Victor Burgin, Jan Dibbets, Gilbert & George, Douglas Huebler, On Kawara, Christine Koslov, Jospeh Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, Bruce Nauman, Adrian Piper, Edward Ruscha, Robert Smithson, Jeff Wall, and Lawrence Weiner. The exhibition is augmented by works by the N.E. Thing Co., Art & Language, and some others from the Belkin Gallery’s collection.