Mel BochnerBlah, Blah, Blah2020
2020
About the Item
- Creator:Mel Bochner (1940, American)
- Creation Year:2020
- Dimensions:Height: 23 in (58.4 cm)Width: 30.99 in (78.7 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Tokyo, JP
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2173212019862
Mel Bochner
Mel Bochner experimented with a range of styles before finding his eventual success as a pioneer in Conceptual art. An audacious 1966 show at School of Visual Arts (SVA) in Manhattan that he presented, “Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed as Art,” remains a seminal touchstone for Conceptualism.
Bochner was born to a Pittsburgh sign painter in 1940. While attending the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon) in the late 1950s, he studied color theory and modernist movements as well as classical drawing, a balance that was formative in his career. After graduation, he moved to San Francisco, creating paintings influenced by Clyfford Still and Jean Dubuffet.
It wasn’t until Bochner “found his way out of the labyrinth of late Abstract Expressionism,” as he put it to The Brooklyn Rail, that he began to create his most meaningful work. Following a stint auditing philosophy classes after a friend introduced him to the work of Heidegger, Bochner relocated to New York, finding work as a guard at the Jewish Museum. In Manhattan, he ran in the same circles as Dan Flavin, Brice Marden and Donald Judd.
“One of the conversations going on in New York in the late ’60s was about the relationship of the object to the art experience,” Bochner said. “...Younger artists like myself were talking about what it would mean to eliminate the object altogether.” This idea would become the foundation of the Conceptual movement, in which Bochner was instrumental. The artist is probably best known for his text-focused paintings, including a series that plays with the phrase “Blah Blah Blah.” He produces work that regards art as an experience, rather than an object, centering on the process of creation and viewership as opposed to the finished product.
Bochner’s “Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed as Art” featured drawings, notes and outlines from the likes of Milton Glaser, Carl Andre, Sol LeWitt and others as well as pages from Scientific American. Bochner, then an art history professor at SVA, photocopied the assemblage of works, added them to binders and positioned them on pedestals for the exhibition because the show’s organizers lacked the funds to frame the pieces.
Bochner’s works can be found in the collections of many major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Find original Mel Bochner prints and other art on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Tokyo, Japan
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- IN MILANO (set of 5)By Lee UfanLocated in Tokyo, 13LOT:20221130S02 Each: by the artist, dated '92 and numbered Each: Edition 48 of 50 Each: 150.0 × 90.0 cm Printer and publisher: Grafica Uno, Girgio Upiglio in Milano Catalogue Raisonné: LEE UFAN...Category
1990s Abstract Prints
MaterialsDrypoint, Lithograph
- So Far, So CloseLocated in Tokyo, 13LOT:20220913N01 Hand-pulled photopolymer on hand-coloured monotype Hand-finished by the artist by use of acrylic paint and pencil Signed and numbered by the artist Edition 55 of 60 C...Category
2010s Abstract Prints
MaterialsAcrylic, Pencil, Monotype
- Le Vent Parmi les RoseauxBy Joan MiróLocated in Tokyo, 13LOT:20230708N02 Artist signed and numbered HC Edition XI/XXXV (11/35) Catalogue Raisonné: Dupin 546, Cramer no. 149 Provenance: Mallet Japan, Tokyo in September 2019 Gallery COA wil...Category
1970s Abstract Prints
MaterialsEtching, Aquatint
- THE MEMORY OF MINE IBy Lee UfanLocated in Tokyo, 13LOT:20221130S01 Signed by the artist and dated '84 Edition of 50 + AP Edition 10 63 x 86 / 53 x 68 cm (Sheet/Image) Printer: Masashi Ozaki Publisher: Shirota Gallery Catalogue Raisonné: LEE UFAN...Category
1980s Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Cant de la CardinaBy Joan MiróLocated in Tokyo, 13LOT:20230708N03 Artist signed and numbered Edition 46/75 Catalogue Raisonné: Maeght 1200, p.26 of the catalog Provenance: Mallet Japan, Tokyo in September 2019Category
1980s Abstract Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Works (set of 2)By Tadaaki KuwayamaLocated in Tokyo, 13LOT:20231104N02 Screenprint on Japanese paper Each: Signed and numbered on the reverse Each: Edition 8 of 40 Red: Sheet 79.5 x 59.0 cm (31.3 x 23.2 in) Image 35.0 x 33.5 cm (13.8 x...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen
- Midcentury Blocks - Abstract Print in Navy Yellow Peach Mid Mod InspiredLocated in Morgan Hill, CA"Midcentury Blocks" is an abstract contemporary monoprint by Texas artist Roberta E. Laine. In this one-of-a-kind print, layers of mulberry papers have been run through an etching pr...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsStencil, Mixed Media, Mulberry Paper, Monoprint, Monotype
- The Space Between II - Abstract Print on PaperLocated in Morgan Hill, CA"The Space Between II" is an abstract contemporary monoprint by Texas artist Roberta E. Laine. In this one-of-a-kind print, layers of mulberry papers have been run through an etching...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsMixed Media, Mulberry Paper, Monoprint, Monotype, Stencil
- The Space Between I - Abstract Print on PaperLocated in Morgan Hill, CA"The Space Between I" is an abstract contemporary monoprint by Texas artist Roberta E. Laine. In this one-of-a-kind print layers of mulberry papers have been run through an etching p...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsStencil, Mulberry Paper, Mixed Media, Monoprint, Monotype
- Complementary Blocks - Abstract Print in Blue White OrangeLocated in Morgan Hill, CA"Complementary Blocks" is an abstract contemporary monoprint by Texas artist Roberta E. Laine. In this one-of-a-kind print, layers of mulberry papers have been run through an etching...Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsMixed Media, Mulberry Paper, Monoprint, Monotype, Stencil
- III-8 (hand painted, signed monoprint composition on two individual sheets)By Michael HeizerLocated in New York, NYMichael Heizer III-8 (two unique works), 1983 Monoprint on two individual sheets of white handmade TGL paper, hand colored with colored pencils, paint sticks, and liquid and spray ac...Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsPaint, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Handmade Paper, Color Pencil, Monoprint, Mo...
- Rose Window 53, Large, Botanical Mandala Relief Print, Dark Grey on Red PaperBy Mary JudgeLocated in Kent, CTIn this large, square relief print on handmade paper, a circular, botanical mandala shape with petal-like edges in dark grey is dramatic and eye-catching against the brilliant red ba...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Abstract Prints
MaterialsArchival Ink, Handmade Paper, Monoprint
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Conceptual Artist Mel Bochner Explores His Connections to 20th-Century Italian Art
The American artist organized an exhibition of his works together with those of postwar Italian talents Alighiero Boetti and Lucio Fontana at the Hudson Valley’s Magazzino Italian Art space.
Yoshitomo Nara Puts a Punk Rock Twist on the Traditional Prints of His Ancestors
The forever-rebellious Japanese artist craftily defaces famous Edo Period woodblock prints with “In the Floating World.”