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.
"The Thoughts in My Head #41 Standing Next to You" conceptual text painting
By Lisa Levy
Located in New York, NY
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 ...
Acrylic, Canvas
$24,000
Éxtasis
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...
Bronze
De la serie aglomeraciones _02
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
#draw #scketch #pencil #frame #box Por un lado está el diario de lo que ha estado sucediendo durante los últimos meses alrededor del mundo. De pequeño formato, los dibujos muestran e...
Paper, Pencil, Carbon Pencil
Psychiatric Observation (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Psychiatric Observation (Abstract Photography) Digital C-Type print on Archival Pigment Print. Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP - Edition 1/6 This new series titled Neurosis brings tog...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Triumph of Void (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Triumph of Void (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP - Edition 1/6 This new series titled Neurosis brings togeth...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Experiencing Anxiety (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Experiencing Anxiety (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP - Edition 2/6 This new series titled Neurosis brings t...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Psychiatric Observation (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Psychiatric Observation (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP - Edition 1/6 This new series titled Neurosis bring...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Triumph of Void (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Triumph of Void (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP - Edition 1/6 This new series titled Neurosis brings togeth...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Panel B - Brutality of Creation (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Panel B - Brutality of Creation (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP - Edition 1/6 This new series titled Neuros...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Panel C - Brutality of Creation (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Panel C - Brutality of Creation (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP - Edition 1/6 This new series titled Neuros...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Panel D - Brutality of Creation (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Panel B - Brutality of Creation (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP - Edition 1/6 This new series titled Neuros...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Iconography of Violence (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Iconography of Violence (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. Edition 6 + 2 AP - Edition 1/6 This new series titled Neurosis bring...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Porch drawing 2 (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Porch drawing 2 (Abstract Painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tendency to work from something observed, ideally around him. He tends to be “in” the configuration that is the subject of the work. Soriano is fond of “systems” objects attached to other objects, such as the wiring plan of a room. But very often there are other shapes that play a role in the work. The artist would fold and rework a piece a number of times. Folding seems to concentrate the dialogue that attracts him. Reworking is part of his nature. The finished work normally is the result of this ebb and flow between the heightening and repositioning the relationship between forms. This drawing highlights the configurations of a large porch that Soriano used as a studio in Maine during Summer 2010. Peter Soriano is a Philippines-born French-American abstract artist who divides his time between New York City and Penobscot, Maine. Although he began his career as a sculptor, his work is now two-dimensional. He is known for his bold spray-painted wall murals...
Paper, Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil
De la serie aglomeraciones _03
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
#draw #scketch #pencil #frame #box Por un lado está el diario de lo que ha estado sucediendo durante los últimos meses alrededor del mundo. De pequeño formato, los dibujos muestran e...
Paper, Pencil, Carbon Pencil
L.I.C. (Blue) (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
L.I.C. (Blue) (Abstract painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. L.I.C refers to Long Island City where Soriano currently has his studio. This drawing focuses of objects and elements within it, in particular the remnants of old closets...
Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil
V: Dogmatic thinking (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
V: Dogmatic thinking (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Bra...
Archival Pigment, Paper
VII: Istinto Primordiale (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
VII: Istinto Primordiale (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Analogía de la luna
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
#mandala #spiritualart #introspecction #sculpture #nature #landscape #information #outdoors #contemporaryart #clay #sun #energy #moon #female JUANA MARTÍNEZ (Tlalpujajua, Michoac...
Clay, Magazine Paper
Sandwich Tamayo
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Eduardo Costa is one of the key figures in global conceptual art. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1940. He graduated in Literature and Art at the University of Buenos Aires in 1965 where he took courses with Jorge Luis Borges in the late fifties. His practice developed into Conceptual POP with the Fashion Fictions Series, 1966-to the present. He is also credited with creating Conceptual Geometry which he showed internationally starting in 1995 at the Elga Wimmer Gallery, NY, and in 2001 at Cecilia de Torres LTD., NY. With Cecilia de Torres he exhibited a fully developed edition of his Volumetric Paintings, which use painting to such a volume that it stands by itself without any cloth or other support.Eduardo Costa lived twenty-five years in New York and over four years in Rio de Janeiro where he met almost daily with Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape...
Acrylic
VI: Utter Blindness (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
VI: Utter Blindness (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brai...
Archival Pigment, Paper
IV: Nice (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
IV: Nice (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brain. It was ...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Introspección
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
JUANA MARTÍNEZ (Tlalpujajua, Michoacán, 1953) Lives and works in Tlalpujahua, Michoacán. Juana lives in an isolated cabin in the middle of nowhere, ...
Magazine Paper
V: Dogmatic thinking (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
V: Dogmatic thinking (Abstract Painting) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brain...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Berlin (Abstract Painting)
Located in London, GB
Berlin (Abstract Painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tendency to work from so...
Paper, Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil
I. Anthropological Purity (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
I. Anthropological Purity (Abstract photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Huma...
Archival Pigment, Paper
VIII: The Unselfconsciousness Of Eros (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
VIII: The Unselfconsciousness Of Eros (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichot...
Archival Pigment, Paper
$1,850
Luna 1
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...
Linen, Oil
$1,900
Perro
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...
Oil, Linen
X: Pleasant Dementia (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
X: Pleasant Dementia (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Bra...
Archival Pigment, Paper
L.I.C. (Blue) (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
L.I.C. (Blue) (Abstract painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. L.I.C refers to Long Island City where Soriano currently has his studio. This drawing focuses of objects and elements within it, in particular the remnants of old closets...
Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil
IX: Genesi (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
IX: Genesi (Abstract photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brain. It w...
Archival Pigment, Paper
$1,850
Luna 2
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...
Oil, Canvas
Pintura de cuatro huevos duros en un plato
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Eduardo Costa is one of the key figures in global conceptual art. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1940. He graduated in Literature and Art at the University of Buenos Aires in 1965 where he took courses with Jorge Luis Borges in the late fifties. His practice developed into Conceptual POP with the Fashion Fictions Series, 1966-to the present. He is also credited with creating Conceptual Geometry which he showed internationally starting in 1995 at the Elga Wimmer Gallery, NY, and in 2001 at Cecilia de Torres LTD., NY. With Cecilia de Torres he exhibited a fully developed edition of his Volumetric Paintings, which use painting to such a volume that it stands by itself without any cloth or other support.Eduardo Costa lived twenty-five years in New York and over four years in Rio de Janeiro where he met almost daily with Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape...
Acrylic
El sueño de Acteón
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...
Bronze
Americano 1/7, 2/7, 3/7, 4/7, 5/7
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...
Bronze
Sandía con interior rojo, blanco y negro
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Eduardo Costa is one of the key figures in global conceptual art. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1940. He graduated in Literature and Art at the University of Buenos Aires in 1965 where he took courses with Jorge Luis Borges in the late fifties. His practice developed into Conceptual POP with the Fashion Fictions Series, 1966-to the present. He is also credited with creating Conceptual Geometry which he showed internationally starting in 1995 at the Elga Wimmer Gallery, NY, and in 2001 at Cecilia de Torres LTD., NY. With Cecilia de Torres he exhibited a fully developed edition of his Volumetric Paintings, which use painting to such a volume that it stands by itself without any cloth or other support.Eduardo Costa lived twenty-five years in New York and over four years in Rio de Janeiro where he met almost daily with Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape...
Acrylic
Naturaleza muerta con botella
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Eduardo Costa is one of the key figures in global conceptual art. He was born in Buenos Aires in 1940. He graduated in Literature and Art at the University of Buenos Aires in 1965 where he took courses with Jorge Luis Borges in the late fifties. His practice developed into Conceptual POP with the Fashion Fictions Series, 1966-to the present. He is also credited with creating Conceptual Geometry which he showed internationally starting in 1995 at the Elga Wimmer Gallery, NY, and in 2001 at Cecilia de Torres LTD., NY. With Cecilia de Torres he exhibited a fully developed edition of his Volumetric Paintings, which use painting to such a volume that it stands by itself without any cloth or other support.Eduardo Costa lived twenty-five years in New York and over four years in Rio de Janeiro where he met almost daily with Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape...
Acrylic
Las flores del mal
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...
Cotton, Color
VII: Istinto Primordiale (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
VII: Istinto Primordiale (Abstract photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human...
Archival Pigment, Paper
III. Deceit of language (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
III. Deceit of language (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human ...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Colby 12 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Colby 12 (Abstract painting) Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tendency to work from ...
Paper, Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil
IV: Nice (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
IV: Nice (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brain. It was ...
Archival Pigment, Paper
II. Marvellous Unconsciousness (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
II. Marvellous Unconsciousness (Abstract photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a...
Archival Pigment, Paper
VI: Utter Blindness (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
VI: Utter Blindness (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brai...
Archival Pigment, Paper
V: Dogmatic thinking (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
V: Dogmatic thinking (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Bra...
Archival Pigment, Paper
VIII: The Unselfconsciousness Of Eros (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
VIII: The Unselfconsciousness Of Eros (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichot...
Paper, Archival Pigment
$15,072Sale Price|20% Off
I. Anthropological Purity (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
I. Anthropological Purity (Abstract photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Huma...
Archival Pigment, Paper
II. Marvellous Unconsciousness (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
II. Marvellous Unconsciousness (Abstract photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a...
Archival Pigment, Paper
IX: Genesi (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
IX: Genesi (Abstract photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brain. It w...
Archival Pigment, Paper
X: Pleasant Dementia (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
X: Pleasant Dementia (Abstract Photography) Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Bra...
Archival Pigment, Paper
VII: Istinto Primordiale (Abstract photography)
Located in London, GB
Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brain. It was created by combining fragments o...
Archival Pigment, Paper
III. Deceit of language (Abstract Photography)
Located in London, GB
Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brain. It was created by combining fragments o...
Archival Pigment, Paper
Diversity (Yellow)
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 ...
Fiberglass
$19,500
Diversity (Red)
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 ...
Fiberglass
Colby 12 (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tendency to work from something observed, ideally ar...
Paper, Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil
"Chromatic Explosion n. 10" by Corrado Ferrante, original, mixed media on paper
Located in Milano, MI
"Chromatic Explosion n. 10" - Dynamic Abstract Composition by Corrado Ferrante A captivating burst of energy radiates from this vibrant abstract work by Italian artist Corrado Ferra...
Paper, Mixed Media, Oil
L.I.C. (Blue) (Abstract painting)
Located in London, GB
Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. L.I.C refers to Long Island City where Soriano currently has his studio. This drawing focuses of objects and elements within it, in particular the remnants of old closets...
Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil
Porch drawing 2
Located in London, GB
Spray paint, pencil, ink, watercolor on paper. Unframed. Peter Soriano works on relatively large sheets of Japanese paper with a tendency to work from something observed, ideally ar...
Paper, Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, Pencil
VII: Istinto Primordiale
Located in London, GB
Archival Pigment Print on Ilford Smooth Pearl paper. Unframed. This abstract work is part of the series titled Dichotomy of a Human Brain. It was created by combining fragments o...
Paper, Archival Pigment
Conceptual Text Based Painting "Lousy Director"
By David Kramer
Located in New York, NY
38"x28" signed by the artist, David Kramer. (oil, acrylic, enamel, pencil on gessoed paper) In this conceptual work on paper, the imagery of a film director is overwritten with the ...
Paper, Oil, Pencil