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Conceptual Sculptures

CONCEPTUAL STYLE

In 1967, artist Sol LeWitt wrote that in “Conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.” He was giving a name to an art movement that had emerged in the 1960s in which artists were less focused on their medium being something traditionally “artistic” and instead engaged in using any object, movement, form, action or place to express an idea.

LeWitt’s work was featured alongside an assemblage of notes, drawings and outlines by other artists in “Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed as Art,” a groundbreaking show at New York City’s School of Visual Arts curated by Mel Bochner, another leading exponent of Conceptualism. Building on radical 20th-century statements, like Fountain (1917) by French artist Marcel Duchamp, Conceptual artists around Europe and North and South America were not interested in the commercial art scene and rather directly challenged its systems and values.

Stretching into the 1970s, this movement has also been called Post-Object art and Dematerialized art. Conceptual art reflected a larger era of social and political upheaval. Pieces associated with the style range from Roelof Louw’s Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges) (1967) — a work of installation art that sees fresh oranges stacked into a pyramid from which visitors are allowed to take one orange away — to On Kawara’s “Today” series, which saw the Japanese artist carefully painting a date in white acrylic on canvases consisting of a single color from 1966 to his death in 2014. Artists such as Ed Ruscha, who created the Twentysix Gasoline Stations book — a collection of photos of gas stations that is widely said to be the first modern artists’ book — made photography a major platform for Conceptual art, as did Bruce Nauman, who burned one of Ruscha's books and then photographed it for his own.

Conceptual art’s legacy of questioning artistic authorship, ownership and how to work with complex ideas of space and time had a significant influence on the decades of culture that followed, and it continues to inform art today.

The collection of Conceptual photography, paintings and sculptures on 1stDibs includes artworks by John Baldessari, Jenny Holzer, Lawrence Weiner, Joseph Kosuth and others.

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Style: Conceptual
Kathleen Vance, Newtown Creek Waterway, 2017, Found Objects, Acrylic Paint, Wood
Located in Darien, CT
Kathleen Vance explores environmental issues such as water conservation and protection through positive stewardship of the land. She looks to convey an appreciation of nature and tra...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Wire

Double Embrace
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original wall sculpture by American female artist Felice Koenig. Koenig covers carved polystyrene forms with layers upon layers of acrylic dots. The works take Koenig around 6...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Polystyrene, Acrylic

Traveling Landscape (Sunseeker)
Located in New York, NY
This sculptural installation incorporates running water and and interior light which activates the scene of a streambed along a grassy knoll. Kathleen Vance is an environmental artist who creates projects that connect people to local aspects of nature that are overlooked or under appreciated. With the series “Traveling Landscapes” Vance creates miniature landscapes with running streams and rivers inside vintage suitcases and trunks...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Mixed Media

Keynote XIV
Located in Buffalo, NY
Diane Baker is a mixed media and fiber-related sculptor working out of Buffalo, NY. She has exhibited throughout the United States and in Canada and is included in several public and...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Found Objects, Tape, Wood

Steel & Iron Sculpture Titled: Nail Head
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
EDUCATION: 1990 - BFA- College of Fine Arts, Boston University, Boston, MA PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: PRESENT STUDIO 740- ARTIST/ STUDIO MANAGER, Helena, MT ASSISTANT CURATOR OF EDUCATION- HOLTER MUSEUM OF ART, Helena, MT 1998-2014 SCULPTURE DEPART. CHAIR/ FOUNDRY DIRECTOR - Armory Art Center,WPB, FL 2012 SUMMER RESIDENT ARTIST @ THE ARCHIE BRAY FOUNDATION, Helena, MT 2010 ELECTED MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL SCULPTURE SOCIETY DESIGNED & FABRICATED ANNUAL AWARD - The Arthur R. Marshall Foundation, WPB, FL DESIGNED & FABRICATED SENIOR GIFT SCULPTURE - Northwood University, WPB, FL 2008 DESIGNED & FABRICATED ANNUAL AWARD - Judge Knott Award, Historical Society of Palm Beach County DESIGNED & FABRICATED ANNUAL AWARD - Providencia Award- Palm Beach County Convention Bureau, WPB, FL FINALIST - My Wendy, My Way, Wendy’s International, Dublin, OH 2003 DESIGNED & FABRICATED CEE CEE LYLES MEMORIAL- Veteran’s Park, Ft. Pierce, FL 1998 - 1996 RDK STUDIOS - Owner/Operator, FIne Art Bronze Foundry, Riviera Beach, FL EXHIBITIONS: 2015 CHRIS RICCARDO & FRIENDS, The Art Spirit Gallery of Fine Art, Coure d’Alene, ID 16TH ANNUAL SMALLL ARTWORKS INVITATIONAL, The Art Spirit Gallery of Fine Art, Coure d’Alene, ID 2014 ON & OFF THE WALL: SOFLO CERAMICS, The Art Gallery @ Eissey Campus Gallery ART PALM BEACH, JF Gallery, WPB, FL IN LIQUID 15, Philadelphia, PA 2013 NCECA 2013: Resident Artist Exhibtion, NCECA 18 Hands Gallery, Houston TX ART PALM BEACH, JF Gallery, WPB, FL THE INVISIBLE HOURDE: Unit 1 Gallery, WPB, FL 2012 ARCHIE BRAY @ the Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, Spokane, WA RESIDENT ARTIST EXHIBITION: Bray Warehouse Galley, The Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT MUSES & SIRENS: CHRIS RICCARDO & JACQUES De BEAUFORT, The Art GAllery @ Eissey Campus, PBG, FL PALM BEACH ART & ANTIQUES, JF Gallery, WPB, FL SMALL FAVORS VII- The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA BEYOND THE BRICKYARD ( 4th Annual Juried Exhibition ) Juried by Richard Shaw...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Steel, Iron

Floor Chimes (Sonambient)
Located in Long Island City, NY
This modern abstract bronze sculpture by Bruggemann is characteristic of his work. His works derive from and depend largely upon elemental laws of physics and kinetic principles, approaching the practical limits of artistic statement combined with supreme craftsmanship. Artist: Winni Brueggemann, German Title: Floor Chimes...
Category

1970s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Child's Play (I and II)
Located in Buffalo, NY
Each of the works is 14" x 16" x 1". They are meant to be hung together either vertically or horizontally. Diane Baker is a mixed media and fiber-related sculptor working out o...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Metal

Fins Ap
By Ap Verheggen
Located in Brecon, Powys
Title: Fins Ap Type: Laughing Wall Shark ​ Another wall creation from this much acclaimed Dutch artist. Epoxy, painted White Length 59", Height 1...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Acrylic Polymer

Vessel: Pierced III, Unique Wall or Table Art by Sylvia Seventy
By Sylvia Seventy
Located in Long Island City, NY
This mixed media sculpture by Sylvia Seventy, from 1986, is a conceptual work in neutral tones. Materials include handmade paper, Apple Wood, Willow, Paint, Oil Pastel, Wax, Cotton ...
Category

1980s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Cotton, Handmade Paper, Oil Pastel, Paint, Wood

Bar (Drinking Sculptures)
Located in New York, NY
Erwin Wurm's Drinking Sculptures are an expansion of his One Minute Sculpture series. These performative works consist of vintage furniture mounted onto bronze sculptures - cucumbers...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Metal

Hub, 310 Union Wharf, 23 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7ST, UK
Located in New York, NY
Hub, London Apartment is from the artist’s ongoing Specimen Series, in which he creates 1:1 fabric replicas of domestic items, including appliances from his previous New York City ap...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Stainless Steel

Campo Base
Located in Berlin, DE
Campo Base 2015 Polyester resin 50 x 39 x 13 cm The work of Lidó Rico focuses on the body, as an icon but also as a medium. Indeed, his own body constitutes the iconic material of...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Resin

Porcelain Snail Pile in Green
Located in Buffalo, NY
This white and green porcelain snail pile was meticulously sculpted by New York artist Bethany Krull. The detail is impeccable with the intricate text...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Porcelain, Glaze

'The Weight of Man in Olympus' Conceptual Hand Wall Sculpture, Gold and Black
Located in Rye, NY
This sculpture represents the idea of human balance in infinity. The symbol of construction while balancing a feather, symbol of freedom and lightness.
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Plaster, Found Objects, Mixed Media

Shoe Wall - cast bronze shoe sculpture installation
Located in Glen Ellen, CA
This set of 48 cast bronze "Shoes" comes from a series of 100 playful shoes by world-renowned artist Steve Tobin. With a variety of extraordinary patinas on ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Katherine Jackson, Little Oil Seeing Red, 2020, Glass Wood Steel, Plexi, LED
Located in Darien, CT
There are two Little Oil installations available with 6 sculptures each on top of LED light boxes. Katherine Jackson has been working with glass and light together for many years, Recently, she's been making glass castings of vintage oil cans, and displaying them -- singly, in small groupings, or in vitrines -- on light boxes. So far she has created about 90, each one unique. The series is called Little Oil, alluding to Big Oil, and sometimes Small Oils, as in oil painting. But “oil” can mean many things. It has been a source of light (sometimes from unconscionable sources) since ancient times as well as a source of eternal light in many faith traditions. Set atop lightboxes, where each work glows from within, these pieces can simply seem like vessels of light itself. At times, they appear to me to transcend their relation to oil altogether, appearing anthropomorphic or creaturely, even biological. These days, I think of them as archeological artifacts, relics of a past, oil-based, civilization. Necropolis is a print of a painting inspired by a map of the necropolis where the terra cotta soldiers...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

LED Light, Pigment, Glass

Katherine Jackson, Little Oil Seeing Red, 2020, Glass Wood Steel, Plexi, LED
Located in Darien, CT
There are two Little Oil installations available with 6 sculptures each on top of LED light boxes. Two of the oil can sculptures depicted here are sold. Please contact the gallery for specific prices on individual prices and smaller light boxes sold with the sculptures. Prices range from $675 - $2050 including a small lightbox for individual sculptures. Katherine Jackson has been working with glass and light together for many years, Recently, she's been making glass castings of vintage oil cans, and displaying them -- singly, in small groupings, or in vitrines -- on light boxes. So far she has created about 90, each one unique. The series is called Little Oil, alluding to Big Oil, and sometimes Small Oils, as in oil painting. But “oil” can mean many things. It has been a source of light (sometimes from unconscionable sources) since ancient times as well as a source of eternal light in many faith traditions. Set atop lightboxes, where each work glows from within, these pieces can simply seem like vessels of light itself. At times, they appear to me to transcend their relation to oil altogether, appearing anthropomorphic or creaturely, even biological. These days, I think of them as archeological artifacts, relics of a past, oil-based, civilization. Necropolis is a print of a painting inspired by a map of the necropolis where the terra cotta soldiers...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Glass, Pigment, LED Light

'Caresses From Olympus' Mixed Media, Conceptual Life Size, Figurative Sculpture
Located in Rye, NY
With ‘Caresses From Olympus’ Mattia explores the journey that man takes every day to discover himself. In an era where migrants are at the center of humanity this sculpture tries to ...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Plaster, Found Objects, Mixed Media

Meditation Man
Located in Rye, NY
The "Meditation Man," in his yoga pose, is in total concentration. His plumaged eyes could be interpreted as life's struggles as he continues to maintain his maximum mental focus. ...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Polyurethane

"Breathe All We Have Is Now" - Contemporary Street Sign Sculpture
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Scott Froschauer is an experimental artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, where his primary focus is exploring new spaces and techniques for communication. This series "Word on ...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Metal

'I'm My Gold' Mixed Media Conceptual Figurative Sculpture
Located in Rye, NY
Artist Statement: With this sculpture I wanted to represent how sometimes we try to follow or copy certain ideologies or simply lifestyles, forgetting that we are unique individuals ...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Gold Leaf

"Untitled Sculpture (1)" Sculpture 18" x 4" x 4" inch by Chad Muska
Located in Culver City, CA
"Untitled Sculpture (1)" Sculpture 18" x 4" x 4" inch by Chad Muska Unique Stone, wood, steel For Chad Muska, an American multi-talented individual, art isn’t just a part of life....
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Stone, Steel

More
Located in Kansas City, MO
Artist : Stephanie Lanter Title : More Materials : Porcelain, underglaze, glaze, enamel, thread Date : 2016 Dimensions : 15" x 12" x 8" Description : ...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Porcelain, Thread, Glaze, Underglaze, Mixed Media

Intersection
Located in Kansas City, MO
Artist : Stephanie Lanter Title : Intersection Materials : Porcelain, underglaze, oxides Date : 2015 Dimensions : 5" x 8.5" x 5" Description : Manually slip-trailed sculpture...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Porcelain, Mixed Media, Ceramic, Thread, Glaze, Underglaze

Katherine Jackson, Little Oil_Vitrine 2, 2019, Glass, Steel, Wood, Plexi, LEDs
Located in Darien, CT
Drawing, glass, and light: these three ingredients are the basis of Katherine Jackson’s work. She begins with drawing, which sometimes becomes an end in itself. But often the images ...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Steel

Katherine Jackson, Little Oil_Vitrine 1, 2019, Glass, Steel, Wood, Plexi, LEDs
Located in Darien, CT
Drawing, glass, and light: these three ingredients are the basis of Katherine Jackson’s work. She begins with drawing, which sometimes becomes an end in itself. But often the images ...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Steel

Alkyd Enamel Oil Painting Half A Thought Cut Panel Wall Hanging Modern Sculpture
Located in Surfside, FL
Oil-based alkyd enamel on plywood panel with cuts. this is a cut plywood wall relief sculpture with paint on it. This has an architectural quality to it. Peter Wegner (born 1963) is an American artist whose works consist of painting, photograph, collage, prints, artist's books, and large-scale installations Born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Peter Wegner earned his BA at Yale University. He works in multiple media, ranging from paintings and photography to large-scale installations and wall works. His pieces are included in major public and private collections worldwide. He currently lives and works in Berkeley, California. A core theme in Wegner's work is color. Professor, author, and critic Eve Meltzer noted in a 2002 review that “color may be the… center” of his entire practice. The artist first began deconstructing the subject in the late 1990s with his "Remarks on Color" series, which used commercial paint chip samples as their starting point. Another theme identified by experts is Wegner's engagement with architecture. For example, in his photography series "Buildings Made of Sky," Wegner reverses urban streetscapes to reveal how skyscrapers shape the open-air spaces between one another into skyscraper-like forms of their own. Wegner has also often pushed the construction of his works in an architectural direction, presenting paintings in the form of leaning columns, complex lattices, and multi-layered scrims. Huldisch noted that “[h]is stacks, grids, and lattice structures reveal both an interest in the forms of Minimalism and a rejection of the stringent doctrine that predicated them." Wegner's early work focuses on everyday artifacts embedded in popular culture, including typography specimens (the basis for the "American Types" series), commercial paint chips (in the "Remarks on Color" series), and security envelopes (in the "Security" series). Wegner produced in 2005 the "Lever Labyrinth," a human-scale maze composed of 2.2 million sheets of stacked paper––all in various shades of green, creating columns of subtly gradating color––constructed inside the Lever House building. In 2008, Wegner executed the major paper installation "GUILLOTINE OF SUNLIGHT, GUILLOTINE OF SHADE" at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The piece consisted of 1.4 millions sheets of die-cut paper in 40 hues, arranged to create two 12’ x 26.5’ x 7" color gradations inside the museum: a wall progressing from blue to yellow in one gallery, and a wall progressing from yellow to red in another. Around this same time, Wegner introduced two new elements into his work: time and neon. He combined both in 2007 to create “THE UNITED STATES OF NOTHING,” which included time-controlled neon signage showing the name, latitude, and longitude of every U.S. city that invokes the concept of nothingness. He has showed at William Griffin Gallery. The gallery has featured solo exhibitions by James Turrell, Richard Long, Robert Rauschenberg, David Lynch, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra, Tony Smith, Peter Wegner, Greg Colson, Liza Ryan and others. It has presented group exhibitions such as Early California Minimalism, a survey of significant early works by Robert Irwin, John McCracken, and Craig Kauffman; and Wall Installations, with works by Maya Lin, James Turrell, Richard Long, Robert Therrien, Teresita Fernández, Karin Sander, Peter Wegner, and Kira Lynn Harris. It has also presented projects of work by Richard Tuttle, Ana Mendieta...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Enamel

Il Cerchio Della Vita ("The Circle of Life")
Located in Rye, NY
"Il Cerchio Della Vita" ("The Circle of Life") is created by Mattia with black and white bird feathers, an animal born with the gift of flight and...
Category

2010s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Plexiglass

2365 Degrees Arc x IV
Located in Long Island City, NY
A large indoor/outdoor welded iron sculpture by Bernar Venet circa 1990. An iconic modern art sculpture of iron with black patina, title stamped...
Category

1990s Conceptual Sculptures

Materials

Steel

@Anonymous
Located in New York, NY
@Anonymous 2014 Neon 28 x 25 x 0.5
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Sculptures

Conceptual sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Conceptual sculptures available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add sculptures created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, red, orange, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Beatrice De Domenico, Scott Froschauer, Jo Yarrington, and Kojun. Frequently made by artists working with Metal, and mixed media and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Conceptual sculptures, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available. Prices for sculptures made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $125 and tops out at $500,000, while the average work sells for $3,220.

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