General Idea

Ouroboros

1988

In 1967, General Idea was founded in Toronto by AA Bronson (b. 1946), Felix Partz (1945-1994), and Jorge Zontal (1944-1994). Over the course of 25 years, they made a significant cont...

In 1967, General Idea was founded in Toronto by AA Bronson (b. 1946), Felix Partz (1945-1994), and Jorge Zontal (1944-1994). Over the course of 25 years, they made a significant contribution to postmodern and conceptual art in Canada and beyond. General Idea was both prolific and multi-disciplinary long before it became de rigueur. Together, they worked across photography, sculpture, painting, mail art, video, installation, multiples, and performance. The group also made a significant number of unconventional editioned works and were inspired by the idea of the anti-art object. Thematic continuity was a key element in General Idea's work. Early on they introduced talismans or logos that they would revisit and re-envision, including skulls, ziggurats, and poodles. They were particularly interested in (European) crests used for centuries to represent a city, district, or even a creative or professional guild. General Idea both appropriated and reinterpreted existing crests (often by replacing a lion with a poodle) as well as creating crests that were entirely of their own imagination. Between 1988 and 1989, General Idea created 8 chenille crests with some of their most iconic motifs. These crests recalled their traditional European antecedents and the aesthetics of high-school sports teams and varsity jackets. "When the Fur Flies" is the most colorful and curious example from the series. A pink poodle, which appears almost as a curly abstraction, mimics the lion's pose often seen in traditional European iconography. Behind the famous General Idea mascot are stylized three yellow mushroom clouds. This design is a classic General Idea; subversive, zany, queer, and mischievous. While these crests were intended to be an unlimited edition, according to the General Idea Editions catalog raisonné, less than 100...

General Idea formed in 1967 in Toronto and over the next nearly 30 years, the trio made a remarkable contribution to post-modern art. With their subversive approach and interest in...

Jenny Holzer is one of the most important and original artists of the 20th century. Her body of work, with an emphasis on text, is consistently provocative and occasionally frightening, manipulating the language of both pop culture and government slogan to produce commentary on global issues notably power structures and warfare. Holzer's iconic "Inflammatory Essays", produced between 1979 and 1982, were first pasted on walls throughout heavily populated metro areas including New York and other cities. Composed of anonymous statements, printed on friendly or calm colored papers, the statements were influenced by writings of major political figures such as Emma Goldman...

Lawrence Weiner (b. 1942) is one of the most-distinctive American conceptual artists. His philosophy and aesthetic developed concurrently to Sol LeWitt yet Weiner has focused far more on (text-based) installation - typically in public spaces. Exhibited at Leo Castelli during the 1970's, Weiner has been an institutional darling with major exhibitions at most of the world's top museums. As a significant portion of his output is temporary installation, his multiples (which are few and far between) are sought-after and cherished by collectors. This rare silkscreen was published in conjunction with Weiner's solo exhibition "SPHERES OF INFLUENCE...

Nan Goldin (b. 1953) is unquestionably one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. Goldin was the first to use the "slide show" format in a high-art setting. Beginning in the 1970's Goldin took candid shots of her lovers, friends and family characters often living on the margins of society in Boston and then New York City. "Butch in the Tub...

Contemporary work of art by Christine Graf. A collage work of art created using wood, vintage book and canvas. Graf skillfully employs unconventional materials and everyday objects ...

Contemporary work of art by Christine Graf. A collage work of art created using rust, canvas and book. Graf skillfully employs unconventional materials and everyday objects when cre...

There has been a failure on the Interwebz Patrick is a conceptual artist, curator, and theorist exploring how media shape our perception of reality as well as the borders between ...

This Conceptual Text based painting features the words "When you look here imagine me standing next to you" in white over a royal blue background ...

Aditya Basak - Untitled - 24 x 20 inches (unframed size) Acrylic on Canvas, 2017 ** This work will be shipped in a roll form. "Through the medium of the fantasy, Basak probes the ...

'Foxfire Ottoman' 45 x 45 x 45 cm, 2023 Woven jacquard acrylic yarn, 100% natural sheepskin, wood and medium density foam. Edition of 2 only. The jacquard textile is woven from ac...