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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
A Conceptually Alternative Cyanotype, "Emptiness is Form 5"
A Conceptually Alternative Cyanotype, "Emptiness is Form 5"

A Conceptually Alternative Cyanotype, "Emptiness is Form 5"

Located in San Diego, CA

A one of a kind 14" diameter Conceptually Alternative Cyanotype executed on Hahnemuhle Sumi-E Paper by artist Annalise Neil. A certificate of authenticity will be provided upon its p...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Photographic Film

A Surreal Conceptual Watercolor Painting, "Longing"
A Surreal Conceptual Watercolor Painting, "Longing"

A Surreal Conceptual Watercolor Painting, "Longing"

Located in San Diego, CA

A 24" x 18" Surreal Conceptual Watercolor Painting executed by artist Annalise Neil. A certificate of authenticity will be provided upon its purchase or delivery. Neil’s cyanotype a...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Watercolor

Glove Benedict

Glove Benedict

By Phil Marco

Located in New York, NY

Humorous subject matter. Face mounted Plexi. Aluminum Braced. Archival Print. ABOUT THE ARTIST Marco studied fine art at Pratt Institute and the Art Students League in New York. New York Times photography critic Gene Thornton called Marco “a Minimalist, whose images are sensual, whimsical, often surreal, always strong, and deceptively simple.” “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Phil Marco on a number of my films. Phil is a man of extraordinary talents. It seems that his passion is to take an everyday object or event, and show it in an entirely new and exciting way.” Martin Scorsese. Phil’s work is represented in MOMA, The Museum of the Moving Image, and The George Eastman Museum of Photography. His first photographs were studies for his paintings, before he launched a career in print advertising. He eventually became a Director / DP for film and television for a vast base of national and international clients with his wife Patricia as Partner and Producer. In the 1980’s and 90’s Phil was the go to person for Special Effects in Television and Cinema, also best known for his graphic conceptual still lives, and his consummate mastery of lighting, and design. He’s won many awards for his work, including numerous Cannes Lions, Cleo’s, a Grammy for his print work on the legendary “Tommy the Who...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Archival Pigment, Giclée

Mylar Balloon
Mylar Balloon

Mylar Balloon

By General Idea

Located in Toronto, Ontario

General Idea was founded in 1967 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 contr...

Category

1990s Conceptual Art

Materials

Plastic, Mylar

Linternas
Linternas

Linternas

By Erik Perez

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

An innate and atypical landscape artist, Eric Pérez is an intellectual who paints. He knows and loves Mexican and world history, from which he derives his contemporary context. His p...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Hashish, Palestine Large Mixed Media Conceptual Abstract Painting
Hashish, Palestine Large Mixed Media Conceptual Abstract Painting

Hashish, Palestine Large Mixed Media Conceptual Abstract Painting

By Dennis Balk

Located in Surfside, FL

From his show Hashish at Michael Steinberg Gallery (bearing their label verso) Reviewed by Roberta Smith in the New York Times. Abstract Expressionism meets graffiti photography. Cy Twombly in cyberspace. Existential physics. The trajectories of car bombs. These phrases came to mind at the show of Dennis Balk's new work, made during the last three years while he lived in Bahrain and traveled primarily in the Middle East. The show is dominated by black-on-white gestural drawings on canvas from Mr. Balk's Faith Thumbnail series. Full of graphic and even painterly nuance, they turn out to have been made completely on the computer. In a smaller room, the Exhausted and Ideographic series features gaudy, vertiginous digital mixes of colorful photographs. Originally a performance artist, he became known in the art world in the early 1990s for improvisational diagrams that brought different historical narratives into collision. One work in his solo debut at American Fine Arts in SoHo in 1992 charted the lives of Ho Chi Minh and Abraham Lincoln -- both fathers of their countries in different ways -- across white paper napkins. His 2003 exhibition at that gallery was titled ''Particles + Waves With Plausibility,'' as is a recent book of his work. Dennis Balk is an educator, visual artist, writer, media designer and playwright based primarily in New York. Balk has an MFA Degree from California Institute of the Arts. Throughout the 90s and 00s he was an Art Director and media designer for television, outdoor, print and emerging tech and social/ media at; Arnell/ Bickford Associates, Frankfurt Gipps Balkind, Foote Cone & Belding and McCann Erickson, New York. At Amster Yard, the conceptual agency within McCann Worldwide, Balk was involved in concepting high-profile campaigns that ran both domestically and internationally. As an interactive and exhibition designer, Balk has designed significant exhibition work for; Princeton University (The Firestone Library), The National Building Museum (Washington DC), The Jewish Museum (New York) and The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington DC) in conjunction with the offices of James Ingo Freed. Balk has taught and lectured at a variety of Universities, most recently; UCLA in the Department of New Genres, the Università IUAV di Venezia, Yale University, Otis College of Art and Design- Public Practice MFA and as Coordinator of the Department of Fine Arts/ Computer Graphics at the New York Institute of Technology, Bahrain Campus. Since the late 80s his art work has addressed, in multiple formats (including several productions of his plays), the conditions of narrative and the narrative aspects of historicizing the present. His work has been exhibited internationally and reviewed extensively including; Artforum, Filosofia e Questioni Pubbliche, Bookforum, Art in America, Paper Magazine and The New York Times. While in New York, his primary gallery representation was with the seminal gallery, American Fine Arts. In February 2009, INOVA at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee presented the early work survey titled, “Dennis Balk - Early Work 1890-2090”. His recent publications include; “Dennis Balk/1890-2090” (2010-channel 171), “Dennis Balk The Arabian Gulf” (2010-channel 171), “ash” (2009-channel 171), “Colin de Land, American Fine Arts” (2008-powerhouse books), and “particles + waves with plausibility” (2006-powerhouse books). SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2011 Jack Bankowsky, Rosetta Brooks, Ingrid Schaffner, Nicholas Frank, Christina Valentine, Dennis Balk, Jennifer Bolande...

Category

Early 2000s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Ink

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

Located in Barcelona, CT

The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate

Category

Early 2000s Conceptual Art

Materials

Paper, Ink

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

By Julio Castillo

Located in Barcelona, CT

The painting is being offered with work and authenticity certificate

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Metal

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

Located in Barcelona, CT

The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate

Category

1990s Conceptual Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Marx
Marx

Marx

Located in Barcelona, CT

The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate

Category

1970s Conceptual Art

Materials

C Print

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

Located in Barcelona, CT

The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate

Category

1980s Conceptual Art

Materials

Engraving

Ritual Sacrifice (Abstract Photography)
Ritual Sacrifice (Abstract Photography)

Ritual Sacrifice (Abstract Photography)

By Gianfranco Pezzot

Located in London, GB

Ritual Sacrifice (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper — Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP This work is part of the "Humanistic Reciprocity". This se...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Paper, Archival Pigment

Ritual Sacrifice (Abstract Photography)
Ritual Sacrifice (Abstract Photography)

Ritual Sacrifice (Abstract Photography)

By Gianfranco Pezzot

Located in London, GB

Ritual Sacrifice (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper — Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP This work is part of the "Humanistic Reciprocity". This se...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Paper, Archival Pigment

Stahl - 3D

Stahl - 3D

By Reisig and Taylor

Located in New York, NY

Depiction of a kind of life. About the Artists: Animated through an assemblage of analog, digital, and lenticular photographic technologies, these selections from Reisig and Tayl...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Lenticular

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

Located in Barcelona, CT

The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate

Category

1980s Conceptual Art

Materials

Engraving

Church & Steeple - Dog and Cat Large Format Polaroid
Church & Steeple - Dog and Cat Large Format Polaroid

Church & Steeple - Dog and Cat Large Format Polaroid

By William Wegman

Located in Miami, FL

William Wegman's highly conceptual Dog - Cat interaction is depicted in this large-format Polaroid Polacolor print that features a double portrait - a Dog and a Cat - together but separate in their own defined space. Signed, titled, and dated to lower right ‘Church & Steeple William Wegman 93’. This work is unique. provenance: Wright Chicago, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco Acquired from the previous in 1993 by the original owner Thence by descent Best viewed with a top gallery light...

Category

1990s Conceptual Art

Materials

Polaroid

Contemporary Bird Painting, "Passenger Pigeons Terrarium, Blue"
Contemporary Bird Painting, "Passenger Pigeons Terrarium, Blue"

Contemporary Bird Painting, "Passenger Pigeons Terrarium, Blue"

Located in San Diego, CA

This is a one of a kind conceptual animal painting. Its dimensions are 34.25x26.5x1. It comes in a white frame. A signed certificate of authenticity from the artist is provided after delivery. This painting depicts passenger pigeons...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Spray Paint, Acrylic

Conscience Level
Conscience Level

Conscience Level

By Barry Wolfryd

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

#murano #glass Barry Wolfryd (1952) Barry Wolfryd, born in Los Angeles and a naturalized Mexican, has spent most of his artistic career in Mexico, where he has lived for the past 35 ...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Glass

Birth of Flight

Birth of Flight

By Phil Marco

Located in New York, NY

Aluminum mounted giclee archival print. Sits about an inch off the wall. ABOUT THE ARTIST Marco studied fine art at Pratt Institute and the Art Students League in New York. New York Times photography critic Gene Thornton called Marco “a Minimalist, whose images are sensual, whimsical, often surreal, always strong, and deceptively simple.” “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Phil Marco on a number of my films. Phil is a man of extraordinary talents. It seems that his passion is to take an everyday object or event, and show it in an entirely new and exciting way.” Martin Scorsese. Phil’s work is represented in MOMA, The Museum of the Moving Image, and The George Eastman Museum of Photography. His first photographs were studies for his paintings, before he launched a career in print advertising. He eventually became a Director / DP for film and television for a vast base of national and international clients with his wife Patricia as Partner and Producer. In the 1980’s and 90’s Phil was the go to person for Special Effects in Television and Cinema, also best known for his graphic conceptual still lives, and his consummate mastery of lighting, and design. He’s won many awards for his work, including numerous Cannes Lions, Cleo’s, a Grammy for his print work on the legendary “Tommy the Who...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Giclée

El ser DO- RE- MI– DO
El ser DO- RE- MI– DO

El ser DO- RE- MI– DO

By Juana Martínez

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

#mandala #spiritualart #introspecction #sculpture #nature #landscape #information #outdoors #contemporaryart #stone #color #energy #seed #ambar #wood JUANA MARTÍNEZ...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Precious Stone, Wood, Magazine Paper, Clay

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

Located in Barcelona, CT

The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate

Category

1970s Conceptual Art

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media, C Print

Conceptual Sculpture Titled, "Weighed Down By Public Opinion No. 2"
Conceptual Sculpture Titled, "Weighed Down By Public Opinion No. 2"

Conceptual Sculpture Titled, "Weighed Down By Public Opinion No. 2"

Located in San Diego, CA

One of a kind original sculpture by local San Diego artist, Duke Windsor. This sculpture depicts a figure facedown with gold bricks on their backs. The artist uses gold leaf to highl...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Concrete, Gold Leaf

Cuando el hombre se convierte en roca
Cuando el hombre se convierte en roca

Cuando el hombre se convierte en roca

By Juana Martínez

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

#mandala #spiritualart #introspecction #sculpture #nature #landscape #information #outdoors #contemporaryart #stone #color #energy #seed #ambar JUANA MARTÍNEZ (Tlalpujajua, Michoa...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Stone

Traveling Landscape (Roundtop Steamer)
Traveling Landscape (Roundtop Steamer)

Traveling Landscape (Roundtop Steamer)

By Kathleen Vance

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 Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Resin, Found Objects

Hidden girl
Hidden girl

Hidden girl

Located in Barcelona, CT

This artwork is a vibrant fusion of abstract and figurative elements, showcasing the artist's bold approach to color and form. Dominated by earthy tones and metallic gold, it feature...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Acrylic

Tea time
Tea time

Tea time

Located in Barcelona, CT

This artwork features a vibrant diptych contrasting two panels. The left panel showcases two stylized roosters in orange and cream, set against a vivid pink backdrop. Their swirling,...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Acrylic

The rusty 13th door
The rusty 13th door

The rusty 13th door

Located in Barcelona, CT

This dynamic abstract artwork features a rich tapestry of colors and textures. Dominated by vertical streaks, it employs bold blues, earthy browns, and deep reds, which cascade down ...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Wood, Acrylic

Red Delirium
Red Delirium

Red Delirium

Located in Barcelona, CT

This artwork boldly captures the viewer's attention with its dynamic use of color and form. Dominated by vibrant reds, deep blacks, and earthy browns, the piece creates a striking vi...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Acrylic, Wood

Unicorn
Unicorn

Unicorn

Located in Barcelona, CT

This artwork is a striking blend of abstract geometry and mythical imagery. Dominating the composition, a stylized unicorn, rendered in muted earth tones, emerges from the bottom lef...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Wood, Acrylic

Diversity (Silver)

Diversity (Silver)

By Oleg Lobykin

Located in Napa, CA

Oleg Lobykin (Russian, b. 1966) is a sculptor. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Lobykin now resides in Silicon Valley and also specializes in the restoration of landmark architecture ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Conceptual Art

Materials

Fiberglass

Casa Blanca (USA)
Casa Blanca (USA)

Casa Blanca (USA)

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

Multidisciplinary artist. Twenty years of artistic experience in the Fine Arts. Eight years of practice as a University professor of Fine Arts. Broad knowledge of design software: Ad...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Buildings of Amsterdam
Buildings of Amsterdam

Buildings of Amsterdam

Located in Barcelona, CT

This striking artwork showcases a series of abstract buildings, each uniquely colored and adorned with whimsical windows. The composition is dominated by bold shades—deep greens, vib...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Acrylic

¿A qué te invita la estela?
¿A qué te invita la estela?

¿A qué te invita la estela?

By Juana Martínez

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

#mandala #spiritualart #introspecction #sculpture #nature #landscape #information #outdoors #contemporaryart #stone JUANA MARTÍNEZ (Tlalpujajua, Michoacán, 1953) Lives and works...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Stone

Xólotl en la caverna
Xólotl en la caverna

Xólotl en la caverna

By Erik Perez

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

An innate and atypical landscape artist, Eric Pérez is an intellectual who paints. He knows and loves Mexican and world history, from which he derives his contemporary context. His p...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Queen #2

Queen #2

By Steve Joester

Located in New York, NY

Mixed Media on wood featuring the famed Queen Band. Freddie Mercury in the lead. Photographed by Joester. Images on sides as well. Not framed. Ab...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Photographic Film, Mixed Media

Untitled
Untitled

Untitled

Located in Barcelona, CT

The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate

Category

Early 2000s Conceptual Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Lithograph

Kremlin (Rusia)
Kremlin (Rusia)

Kremlin (Rusia)

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

Multidisciplinary artist. Twenty years of artistic experience in the Fine Arts. Eight years of practice as a University professor of Fine Arts. Broad knowledge of design software: Ad...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Caimán monstruo americano
Caimán monstruo americano

Caimán monstruo americano

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

He refers to the history of art, particularly to pop culture and the social circumstances of its local environment as well as its universal confrontation. Humor and irony with a crit...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Bronze

The Bubble - Circular Contemporary Landscape/Abstract Painting, geometric, blue
The Bubble - Circular Contemporary Landscape/Abstract Painting, geometric, blue

The Bubble - Circular Contemporary Landscape/Abstract Painting, geometric, blue

Located in Signal Mountain, TN

Peña’s works range from painting to multimedia installations that question the ever-changing psychological landscape of America; asking the viewer to re-examine their perceptions of the “American Dream” and the affects that pursuit has on our environment. In "The Buble", Peña takes a more traditional approach to representing a house in the phase of construction with bold and vivid colors and contrasts the image with cut Sintra board slowly pulsating downward from underneath the house. The light blue of the sky contrasts with a deep orange hue for the house. The work is framed with a 1 inch white border. Nick Peña...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

PVC, Acrylic, Watercolor

#5

#5

By Nadine Saacks

Located in New York, NY

Photojournalist portrait of vanishing Surma tribe. Printed on canvas. Shot in July 2018, over a month in Ethiopia. "I wanted to photograph lost tribes because there are not m...

Category

2010s Conceptual Art

Materials

Canvas, Archival Pigment

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.