Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7

General Idea
Placebo Prototype

1991

$10,500
£8,113.02
€9,403.40
CA$15,202.31
A$15,532.99
CHF 8,670.39
MX$187,469.98
NOK 106,340.82
SEK 104,289.80
DKK 70,319.72

About the Item

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. The group was both prolific and multi-disciplinary long before it became de rigueur. They worked across a wide range of media including photography, sculpture, painting, mail art, video, installations, multiples, and performance. With their subversive approach and interest in parody and appropriation, General Idea addressed a broad range of social (and art-world) issues such as the cult of the artist, mass media, queer identity, and consumerism. At the onset of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, the illness (and the apathy/ignorance toward it) became a dominant theme in their work. During this period, pills and capsules became a critical and omnipresent part of daily life for Partz and Zontal, who were both treated for the disease before their death in 1994. Their frustration and skepticism towards the pharmaceutical industry, namely the astronomical costs of treating the illness and the apparent sluggishness in launching medications, became a focal point in their oeuvre and served as an avenue to investigate the industry and the individual's dependence on their production. The pill became a recurring trope in their critique of the response to the AIDS crisis and was realized in a multitude of iterations. Included here is an in-situ photograph from the 2023/2024 General Idea retrospective at The Gropius Bau, Berlin, featuring "Green (Permanent) Placebo" 1991. This hand-painted pill is completed in General Idea's signature shades of fluorescent blue and red. The pared-back aesthetic is indicative of General Idea's work from the 1990s when their output became notably sleek and minimal. Questions about this piece? Contact us. Visit our Toronto gallery on Thursdays or by appointment. “Pla©ebo Prototype” Canada, 1991 Fluorescent acrylic on wood Signed, dated, placebo stamped, and inscribed on verso 6.5"W 2.5"H 1.25"D (work) Very good condition
  • Creator:
  • Creation Year:
    1991
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 6.5 in (16.51 cm)Width: 2.5 in (6.35 cm)Depth: 1.25 in (3.18 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very good condition.
  • Gallery Location:
    Toronto, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 11-231stDibs: LU215213447822

More From This Seller

View All
Capsule

Capsule

By General Idea

Located in Toronto, Ontario

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...

Category

1990s Post-Modern Paintings

Materials

Silk, Paint, Paper

Pavillion Fragment

Pavillion Fragment

By General Idea

Located in Toronto, Ontario

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...

Category

1980s Post-Modern Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

Untitled

Untitled

By Tony Berlant

Located in Toronto, Ontario

Tony Berlant (b. 1941) is an American artist renowned for his painterly collages and intricate metal sculptures. His work combines various source materials including photographs, fou...

Category

1990s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal, Steel

Copyright

Copyright

By General Idea

Located in Toronto, Ontario

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

Category

1980s Conceptual Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

Coeur Volant

Coeur Volant

By General Idea

Located in Toronto, Ontario

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...

Category

1990s Post-Modern Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wax, Acrylic, Fiberboard

Alat

Alat

By Kosso Eloul

Located in Toronto, Ontario

Kosso Eloul (1920-1995) is one of our favorite sculptors and an important contributor to public art in Toronto. In addition to the numerous public sculptures in Toronto by Eloul, his works can be found in many other prominent open spaces around the world, from California to Israel. Most familiar with Eloul associate his work with his signature forms; large brushed aluminum (or steel) angled rectangles. However his earlier work was realized in stone. This fine sculpture, a form that is revisited and eventually created in metal, is made of Jerusalem Stone...

Category

1960s Minimalist Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Stone

You May Also Like

Shared Flat V

Shared Flat V

Located in Winterswijk, NL

Design inspired by the A4 model. The proportions of the sculpture can be traced back to the proportions of the A4 format. If it were possible to fold thi...

Category

2010s Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Iron

Untitled

Untitled

Located in Phoenix, AZ

ceramic and wood Tetsuya Yamada (b. 1968, Tokyo) studied traditional Japanese ceramics before moving to the USA in 1994. He received his MFA from Alfred University in 1997 and is cu...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Minimalist Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Wood

Something for nothing

Something for nothing

By Tim Berg & Rebekah Myers

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Handmade by the artists - lacquered wood Our objective is to distill the stereotypical perceptions and associations within our culture into visually compelling objects, sculptures a...

Category

2010s Contemporary Sculptures

Materials

Wood, Lacquer

0 (the fool)

0 (the fool)

Located in Santa Monica, CA

Acrylic & spray enamel on canvas

Category

21st Century and Contemporary More Art

Materials

Enamel