| "Conceptual Art" treads the thin line between what | | | | they outdid themselves by exhibiting nothing, calling |
| we generally think as "artistic" and what as | | | | them "Invisible Paintings" (Yves Klein did just that in |
| "non-artistic." While most of us do associate the skills | | | | his exhibit, "The Void," 1958). |
| of the artist as the primary requisite for a great art, | | | | The initial 60s and 70s led to an explosion of |
| a thought process gives the concept much more | | | | conceptual artists, such as Henry Flynt, Robert Morris, |
| weight. "Conceptual Art" is the baby of the latter. | | | | Adrian Piper, and Ray Johnson, who abhorred the |
| While the genre itself was given a name by the | | | | idea of big galleries and what they called the |
| reputed artist, Henry Flynt, it had cramping birth | | | | commercialization of art. Artists like Dan Graham and |
| pangs when it grew out of the existing "formalism" | | | | the Young British Artists then took the torch of |
| that existed in the art circles of America in the 60s. | | | | "Conceptual Art." These people made the "concept" |
| Marcel Duchamp, considered the father of the | | | | drive an art movement, often involving themselves |
| "Conceptual Art Movement," began with the concept | | | | not only in Fine Arts, but also in music and theatre. |
| of "Ready-mades." He was the first artist to start | | | | Through these, they aimed to find a wholesome |
| metamorphosing ordinary, mundane, daily articles into | | | | execution to display the "concept" without caring |
| artworks. The importance was not so much on | | | | much for the longevity of their works. What exists |
| displaying the dexterity of color or texture, as much | | | | of these art works is only documentary evidence. |
| it was on conveying a greater thought. The Society | | | | "Conceptual Art" floors the claims of it being an |
| of Independent Artists rejected his exhibits, and | | | | alternative to the formal art school techniques that |
| refused to recognize them as art. | | | | sometimes themselves border on the bizarre. In 1965, |
| 1960s was the flourishing period for new thoughts | | | | for example, John Latham made an exhibit called "Still |
| and soon this idea of "Conceptual Art" was taken to | | | | and Chew," which consisted of students sitting and |
| new mediums and subjects. "Installation Art" took on | | | | chewing pages of book and dissolving them in acid. |
| an independent stature and soon people were | | | | For all its sensationalism and shock value, "Conceptual |
| questioning the fundamentals of art. The doubting | | | | Art" has grown from just a genre to a movement. It |
| artists, themselves came up with answers through | | | | has given the modern day art, its most beautiful |
| their art forms that surprised them as much as they | | | | moments, and also the most worthless ones. In the |
| did the audience. Sometimes the art pieces consisted | | | | bargain, "Conceptual Art" has been a door opening |
| of the arrangements of normal objects in a space, | | | | exercise, where the society questioned art and that |
| architectural curves, or raw shapes, and sometimes | | | | itself is a big step in the history of art. |