Beyond, Instead, Possible: Robert Barry and the Birth of Conceptual Art
6.6.2020
Beyond, Instead, Possible: Robert Barry and the Birth of Conceptual Art
6.6.2020
“Beyond, Instead, Possible: Robert Barry and the Birth of Conceptual Art” is the first of three appointments that will take place at the Foundation between June and August, to present Antonio Dalle Nogare’s collection. This trilogy will show, in a linear but not necessarily chronological way, how the works of the artists exhibited in the collection are born, looking at the same themes from different angles and reflecting the society of their time.
The Sixties are a historical phase characterised by a profound transformation of costume, fashion, lifestyle, interests and political participation. These are the years of the Vietnam War, the hippies, the birth of feminism, the conscientious objectors. Art naturally reacts to these changes, in part anticipating them, by subjecting its own languages and modes of operation to a radical transformation that produces a multiplicity of movements and groups, often supported by different or even opposing ideologies, such as Pop Art and Arte Povera. One of the most significant movements, which was born in these years but will have full development in the Seventies, is Conceptual Art.
Robert Barry is the conceptual artist who, more than others, was interested in the dynamics of invisible things, producing works made to unhinge the rules of visuality and demonstrating the existence of immaterial things: thoughts, words but also magnetic waves and inert gases.
“But does the work really exist?”
“It exists if you have an idea about it, and part of it is yours.” – Robert Barry
Immediately after the guided tour the movie troublemakers – The story of Land Art will be shown, which will resume the themes treated during the tour
Key Words
Against Expression: An Anthology of Conceptual Writing
Von Craig Dworking und Kenneth Goldsmith
Sometimes art is paintings, and sometimes it’s a chair.
Why? Let’s learn about Conceptual Art, where the idea is more important than the form.
Paragraphs on Conceptual Art
Article by Sol Lewitt published on Artforum in 1967.
Sentences on Conceptual Art
Article by Sol Lewitt published on the magazine “0-9” in 1969.
Robert Barry, Now and Then (2002)
Back to Manifesto
The 13-channel film installation Manifesto (2015) by Julien Rosefeldt pays homage to the tradition and literary beauty of artist manifestos, ultimately questioning the role of the artist in society today. In Manifesto Part 12, Cate Blanchett presents Sol Lewitt’s statements on conceptual art by impersonating a news anchorwoman.
Ursula Meyer, “Conversation with Robert Barry, 12 October 1969”, in “Meyer: Conceptual Art”
Recommended bibliography
Conceptual Art: a critical anthology
Alexander Alberro, Blake Stimson
2000
The MIT Press
ISBN: 978-0262511179
Arte concettuale e strategie pubblicitarie
Alexander Alberro
2011
Johan & Levi editore
ISBN: 978-88-6010-066-5
Recording Conceptual Art: Early Interviews with Barry, Huebler, Kaltenbach, LeWitt, Morris, Oppenheim, Siegelaub, Smithson, and Weiner by Patricia Norvell
Alexander Alberro, Patricia Norvell
2001
University of California Press
ISBN: 9780520220119
Conceptual Art
Tony Godfrey
1998
Phaidon Press
ISBN: 9780714833880
Seth Sieglaub: beyond conceptual art
Sara Martinetti, Leontine Coelewij
2016
Koenig Books
ISBN: 978-3863358242
Autobiography Robert Barry
2006
Les presses du reel