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Conceptual Art

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
Jo Yarrington, blue cylinder with red weaving and codes, mixed media, 16 x 12 in

Jo Yarrington, blue cylinder with red weaving and codes, mixed media, 16 x 12 in

By Jo Yarrington

Located in Darien, CT

Jo Yarrington has always been interested in chance and the found {moment, object, person}. How random experiences click in to place, form a narrative, reveal a truth. All the work ...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Linen, Thread, Found Objects, Archival Paper

Facade, Conceptual Lithograph by David Richard Smyth
Facade, Conceptual Lithograph by David Richard Smyth

Facade, Conceptual Lithograph by David Richard Smyth

Located in Long Island City, NY

David Richard Smyth, American (1943 - ) - Facade, Year: 1972, Medium: Lithograph, signed, dated and numbered in pencil, Edition: Bon a Tirer, Image Size: 36 x 26.5 inches, Size: ...

Category

1970s Conceptual Art

Materials

Lithograph

Framed Limited Edition Archival Print of Trinity Site, 2019
Framed Limited Edition Archival Print of Trinity Site, 2019

Framed Limited Edition Archival Print of Trinity Site, 2019

By George McLeod

Located in London, GB

Trinity Site, 2019 by George McLeod Limited Edition, Framed Fine Art Print #blue #white #human figure in the landscape #white sand dunes #smoke #surreal #NewMexico More info about t...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Color, Pigment, Archival Pigment

Jo Yarrington, Mute-Ability_Composition 2, 2019_acrylic, steel, player piano rol
Jo Yarrington, Mute-Ability_Composition 2, 2019_acrylic, steel, player piano rol

Jo Yarrington, Mute-Ability_Composition 2, 2019_acrylic, steel, player piano rol

By Jo Yarrington

Located in Darien, CT

Jo Yarrington’s photographs, prints, works on paper, glass sculptures and architecturally-based installations have been shown in exhibitions at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Yale University, Cornell University, the Museum of Glass, the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Artists Space, St. John the Divine Cathedral, Grounds for Sculpture, the Museum of American Glass and ODETTA, among others. International exhibitions have included Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow Cathedral, Glasgow University, Galeria Sala Uno and Centro de las Artes de Guanajuato. She represented the United States at the Sharjah Biennial, United Arab Emirates and participated in the Berlin Biennial. in 2010 she received the Bronze Prize, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, Macedonia. Yarrington is a recipient of artist grants and Fellowships from the Pollock Krasner Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. She has received Residency Fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Museum of Glass, the Museum of American Glass, the Bridge Virtual Residency/ SciArt Center, the Lucile Walton Fellow/Mountain Lake Biological Station, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Anderson Center and the Ucross Foundation, among others. International grants and fellowships have included the Banff Center for Arts and Creativity/Canada, SIMS Residency/ Iceland, Cill Rialaig Artists Residency/Ireland, the Burren College of Art Residency/Ireland and the American Scandinavian Foundation. She is a Professor of Visual and Performing Arts at Fairfield University and lives and works in New York City. STATEMENT In site-specific exhibitions, public art commissions, collaborative and individual projects Jo Yarrington has used varied combinations of glass, waxed surfaces, found artifacts and experimental analog photography to investigate the way we perceive – searching for, experimenting with and developing throughout a sensory-based vernacular. Her mostly translucent materials function as physical framework and symbolic membrane. Light, both natural and ambient, provides a kinetic or time-based element to her work. Scale and the integration of architecture are also pivotal components. In the 6-part installation for the two-person exhibition Illuminated, Yarrington continues her interest in the connections between vision, sound and language. In Mute-ability: Compositions 1 – 6, her title for this light-based comprehensive work, she combines the words mute and malleability. The work focuses on found piano rolls, a music storage medium, originally conceived as coded notations or ‘note control data’ for music produced in pneumatic player pianos...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Steel

Bob Seng, Exit 323, 2000, scraped, collaged, EXIT signs, 8" x 12"

Bob Seng, Exit 323, 2000, scraped, collaged, EXIT signs, 8" x 12"

By Bob Seng

Located in Darien, CT

Robert Seng was born and raised in Seattle, served in the US Navy in Vietnam, and finished his BFA and MFA on the GI Bill. He was a founder of Artech, Seattle’s premier art services company, to support his art career. A New York resident since 1986, Seng has worked at Artforum, the Guggenheim Museum and taught at Fairfield University while continuing his studio practice in painting and sculpture. In the mid 1990’s Seng moved into site-specific installation work with collaborator Lisa Hein. Together they have made more than 40 projects with moving light...

Category

Early 2000s Conceptual Art

Materials

Plastic

WILD MADDER (plate)

WILD MADDER (plate)

By Beth Lipman

Located in New York, NY

BETH LIPMAN WILD MADDER (plate), 2021 glass, permanent photographic transfer 1 x 6 7/8 in. etched "BL 2021" on back

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Glass

Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls Film and Vintage Projector, 2018, Film, Found Objects
Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls Film and Vintage Projector, 2018, Film, Found Objects

Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls Film and Vintage Projector, 2018, Film, Found Objects

By Jo Yarrington

Located in Darien, CT

This installation imagines the Radium Girls as abstractd subjects. Repeating a motif of a circle, signifying the mouth, this art object conveys a modern view of the these workers, tied in with repetitive actions in abstracted patterns. Radioluminescence is the phenomenon by which light is produced in a material by bombardment with ionizing radiation and can be used as a low-level light source for night illumination of instrument...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Film, Found Objects

Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls_Brushes, 2017, Organic Material, Found Objects, Pins
Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls_Brushes, 2017, Organic Material, Found Objects, Pins

Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls_Brushes, 2017, Organic Material, Found Objects, Pins

By Jo Yarrington

Located in Darien, CT

Radioluminescence is the phenomenon by which light is produced in a material by bombardment with ionizing radiation and can be used as a low-level light source for night illumination of instruments or signage or other applications where light must be produced for long periods without external energy sources. Radioluminescent paint used to be used for clock hands and instrument dials...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Organic Material, Found Objects, Pins

Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls_Transparencies, 2017, Inkjet Print, Photographic Film
Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls_Transparencies, 2017, Inkjet Print, Photographic Film

Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls_Transparencies, 2017, Inkjet Print, Photographic Film

By Jo Yarrington

Located in Darien, CT

Radioluminescence is the phenomenon by which light is produced in a material by bombardment with ionizing radiation and can be used as a low-level light source for night illumination of instruments or signage or other applications where light must be produced for long periods without external energy sources. Radioluminescent paint used to be used for clock hands and instrument dials...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Plastic, Photographic Film, Inkjet

Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls_ The Radium Dance, 2018, Paper, Inkjet Print
Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls_ The Radium Dance, 2018, Paper, Inkjet Print

Jo Yarrington, Ghost Girls_ The Radium Dance, 2018, Paper, Inkjet Print

By Jo Yarrington

Located in Darien, CT

Radioluminescence is the phenomenon by which light is produced in a material by bombardment with ionizing radiation and can be used as a low-level light source for night illumination of instruments or signage or other applications where light must be produced for long periods without external energy sources. Radioluminescent paint used to be used for clock hands and instrument dials...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Paper, Inkjet

Jo Yarrington, Ghost girls_Slide Carousel, 2018, Photographic Film, Found Object
Jo Yarrington, Ghost girls_Slide Carousel, 2018, Photographic Film, Found Object

Jo Yarrington, Ghost girls_Slide Carousel, 2018, Photographic Film, Found Object

By Jo Yarrington

Located in Darien, CT

Radioluminescence is the phenomenon by which light is produced in a material by bombardment with ionizing radiation and can be used as a low-level light source for night illumination of instruments or signage or other applications where light must be produced for long periods without external energy sources. Radioluminescent paint used to be used for clock hands and instrument dials...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Photographic Film, Found Objects

Cabinet of Wonders, Persistence and the Fugitive
Cabinet of Wonders, Persistence and the Fugitive

Cabinet of Wonders, Persistence and the Fugitive

By Greg Garvey

Located in Darien, CT

This flat file installation is a kind of Wunderkammer – a Cabinet of Wonder or Curiosity containing a small idiosyncratic collection of select wonders and oddities of the natural wor...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Wood, Video, Found Objects

Fritz Horstman, Formwork for a Square Pad, 2015, Steel, Wood, Maple
Fritz Horstman, Formwork for a Square Pad, 2015, Steel, Wood, Maple

Fritz Horstman, Formwork for a Square Pad, 2015, Steel, Wood, Maple

By Fritz Horstman

Located in Darien, CT

While working on a large building project several years ago the artist, Fritz Horstman was struck by the poetry in the unfinished state of the construction site. He was drawn specifically to the space between the plywood walls that were raised as formworks for the pouring of cement. That space could only exist for a few hours before the cement truck...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Steel

Fritz Horstman, Five Walls With Openings, 2016, Wood, Walnut
Fritz Horstman, Five Walls With Openings, 2016, Wood, Walnut

Fritz Horstman, Five Walls With Openings, 2016, Wood, Walnut

By Fritz Horstman

Located in Darien, CT

While working on a large building project several years ago the artist, Fritz Horstman was struck by the poetry in the unfinished state of the construction site. He was drawn specifically to the space between the plywood walls that were raised as formworks for the pouring of cement. That space could only exist for a few hours before the cement truck...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Wood, Walnut

Fritz Horstman, Glacier Face, 2016, Wood, Walnut
Fritz Horstman, Glacier Face, 2016, Wood, Walnut

Fritz Horstman, Glacier Face, 2016, Wood, Walnut

By Fritz Horstman

Located in Darien, CT

While working on a large building project several years ago the artist, Fritz Horstman was struck by the poetry in the unfinished state of the construction site. He was drawn specifically to the space between the plywood walls that were raised as formworks for the pouring of cement. That space could only exist for a few hours before the cement truck...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Wood, Walnut

The Magic Sign - Lithograph by Giuliano Sturli - 1976

The Magic Sign - Lithograph by Giuliano Sturli - 1976

Located in Roma, IT

The magic sign is a lithograph realized by  Giuliano Sturli in 1976 Good conditions except for a very light folds on the lower corner. Hand-signed and dated on the lower margin. N...

Category

1970s Conceptual Art

Materials

Lithograph

Axe, 2019: 'Fuel for Fire'

Axe, 2019: 'Fuel for Fire'

By Cheryl R Riley

Located in New York, NY

“My art explores the similarity between seemingly disparate cultures through the lens of my African American ancestry. I examine my family’s plight shaped by the history of racism an...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Jeff Becker, Privey Policy, 2016, Archival Pigment Print

Jeff Becker, Privey Policy, 2016, Archival Pigment Print

By Jeff Becker

Located in Darien, CT

Using his inkjet printer as a paintbrush, Jeff Becker creates watercolor-like imagery without Photoshop or filters. He refers to this process of dynamic chemical processes as The Slu...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Jeff Becker, Flag Privacy, 2016, Archival Paper, Inkjet Paper
Jeff Becker, Flag Privacy, 2016, Archival Paper, Inkjet Paper

Jeff Becker, Flag Privacy, 2016, Archival Paper, Inkjet Paper

By Jeff Becker

Located in Darien, CT

Using his inkjet printer as a paintbrush, Jeff Becker creates watercolor-like imagery without Photoshop or filters. He refers to this process of dynamic chemical processes as The Sl...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Inkjet

Peoples Privacy

Peoples Privacy

By Jeff Becker

Located in Darien, CT

Using his inkjet printer as a paintbrush, Jeff Becker creates watercolor-like imagery without Photoshop or filters. He refers to this process of dynamic chemical processes as The Sl...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Inkjet

Jeff Becker, Slurry Pentagon, 2016, Inkjet Print

Jeff Becker, Slurry Pentagon, 2016, Inkjet Print

By Jeff Becker

Located in Darien, CT

Using his inkjet printer as a paintbrush, Jeff Becker creates watercolor-like imagery without Photoshop or filters. He refers to this process of dynamic chemical processes as The Sl...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Inkjet

Sacred Abstraction On Carved 3D Wood Panel
Sacred Abstraction On Carved 3D Wood Panel

Sacred Abstraction On Carved 3D Wood Panel

By Krzysztof Sokolovski

Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL

Sacred Abstraction, Royal blue, red and gold leaf on carved wood pane, signed on the back. Krzysztof (Chris) Sokolovski born in 1985 in Eisiskes in Lithuania. Visual artist creating neosacral art: paintings, luminous objects, installations, and monumental painting. He is a creator of the concept of neosacral art. Since 2003 he lives and creates in Poland. He graduated from Gdansk University of Technology (Faculty of Power Engineering) and the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (Faculty of Painting). Also, the artist took a course in clinical anatomy at the Medical University of Gdansk. Sokolovski has created neosacral chapels in Klebark Wielki (Poland) and in Salesian Sisters Convent in Jerusalem. Concept: Sokolowski wants to create modern sacral art founded on visual tradition and theologies of many cultures. “I think that abstract codification of faith is the prospective and only way to save serious attitude to contemporary human’s spirituality. It is fundamental for responsible usage of developing knowledge about the empirical world and for forming sensibility, which should be adequate to it. In my opinion, the progress of civilization cannot be holistic if it is mostly based on scientific and technological development – metaphysical sensitivity is necessary too. Empirical knowledge is confinement if we use it only for improving conveniences and gaining more knowledge. It is not enough for the evolution of mind, which should advance along with changes in our environment.” Individual Exhibition 2018 – “Neosacral Art”, Saris Museum, Bardejov, Slovakia 2018 – “Neosacral Art”, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland 2018 – “Neosacral Art”, Gallery “Camaldolese Cellar”, Church in Bielany Forest, Warsaw, Poland 2018 – “Neosacral Art”, Museum of Mińsk Mazowiecki, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Poland 2017 – “Neosacral Art”, Zielona 13 Gallery, Łódź, Poland 2017 – “Neosacral Art”, the University of Warsaw Gallery, Warsaw, Poland 2017 – “Neosacral Art”, Bohema Gallery, Warsaw, Poland 2016 – “Neosacral Art”, Philosophy of Religion Department, University of Warsaw, Poland 2016 – “Neosacral Art”, Gallery of Association “Polish Community”, Warsaw, Poland 2016 – “Neosacral Art”, Exhibition-Conferential Centre, Białystok, Poland Selected group exhibition 2017 – “Deification of Body”, Sheptytsky National Museum in Lviv, Ukraine 2017 – “Sokolovski / Wąsowski / Jędrzejko / Mazuś”, Bohema Gallery, Warsaw, Poland 2016 – “1st Pomeranian Biennial of Young Art”, Sopot, Poland 2016 – “Shape of Spirit”, Gallery of Mathematics and Computer Science Department, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland 2016 – “Diverted Reality”, Evelyn E. Jorgenson Gallery, Moberly, Missouri, USA 2016 – “Exhibition of Sacred Art”, Gallery of Saint Sophia...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Gold Leaf

"Untitled 1.16" Still Life Photography 35' x 24' in Ed of 10 by García De Marina

"Untitled 1.16" Still Life Photography 35' x 24' in Ed of 10 by García De Marina

By García De Marina

Located in Culver City, CA

"Untitled 1.16" Still Life Photography 35' x 24' in Ed of 10 by García De Marina Signed and numbered by the artist Comes with COA issued by the artist García de Marina was born in ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Digital Pigment

"Il dopo? è nell'ombra?", oil on wood, 19x23cm
"Il dopo? è nell'ombra?", oil on wood, 19x23cm

"Il dopo? è nell'ombra?", oil on wood, 19x23cm

By Corrado Ferrante

Located in Milano, MI

This work by Corrado Ferrante exemplifies the artist’s distinctive material language and his ability to transform fragments into powerful visual narratives. Through layered textures,...

Category

1980s Conceptual Art

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Wood Panel, Board

Errantes Serie
Errantes Serie

Errantes Serie

By Israel Luis González Sosa

Located in Miami, FL

Discover beauty and hope in every stroke of this stunning piece by the talented Cuban painter Israel González Sosa. From the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts of Santa Clara -Cuba, Is...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Queen

Queen

By Tim Yankosky

Located in Fairfield, CT

Materials are often the driving force and inspiration behind the works of art that I create. I have always been drawn to the functional wear and patina of vintage and found objects. ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Other Medium

Resin Abstract Circle Sculpture: 'Circle'
Resin Abstract Circle Sculpture: 'Circle'

Resin Abstract Circle Sculpture: 'Circle'

By Kelly Bugden + Van Wifvat

Located in New York, NY

The artistic collaboration of Kelly Bugden + Van Wifvat has produced a thought-provoking body of sculptures, paintings, and constructions. Nature, childhood memories, and everyday archetypes take shape in unexpected combinations of materials. The works emerged as the tactile and visual senses channeled the ritualistic power and materiality of selected artifacts. The resulting objects exist in a space between what they were originally and what they could become. A wheel, for example, is distorted as if seen through a prism. Their collaboration grew out of years of shaping materials into one-of-a-kind objects. Intuitively, the process of creating with their hands took an inward turn. Prism is a travelogue through memories and dreams, yielding abstract forms that capture moments of transformation. Van Wifvat grew up with eight siblings and studied sculpture and environmental design in Minneapolis at MCAD. In 1979, he opened a storefront art gallery to promote the work of local artists. The space featured printed materials—art books, periodicals, fanzines, and postcard’s. Wifvat moved to New York in 1983 to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons. In 1987, he co-founded Van Gregory & Norton design studio, specializing in convex mirrors and curtain hardware...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Ceramic, Resin, Wood, Glaze, Handmade Paper

Mixed Media Painting Titled: Wingnut
Mixed Media Painting Titled: Wingnut

Mixed Media Painting Titled: Wingnut

By William Finlayson Jr.

Located in West Palm Beach, FL

acrylic, duct tape, metal, steel on wood acrylic on board Born in Tallahasee Fl, William started his artistic career as a color consultant for his family's Design and Painting company that took on constant projects of custom painted interiors and decorating. This work of 20 yrs lead him to his fascination with textiles and paint, along with custom furniture. After creating and selling dozens of unique pieces of furniture, here began his transition from wall, to wood on furniture, to canvas. Painting on canvas was the culmination of his creative outlet. William feels that his lack of formal training in Fine Art has afforded him a freedom to paint what he envisions and feels, rather than conform to specific style or genre that he feels is limiting Inspired by hard edge abstraction and color field art such as Kenneth Noland, Joseph Albers, Gene Davis, Frank Stella, Anne Truitt, Imi knobel.William is showing his work locally and nationally and being collected in Palm Beach Island, Washington and New York. Gallery Representation DTR Modern Galleries 440 S. County, Palm Beach FL 33480 DTR Modern Galleries Boston NoSo Fine Art, 3716 S. Dixie Hwy West Palm...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Metal, Steel

Conceptual art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Conceptual art 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 art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Reinhard Görner, Kojun, Jose Sierra, and xulong zhang. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Paint 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 art, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available. Prices for art 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 $45 and tops out at $500,000, while the average work sells for $2,465.