2024-11-19
Conceptual art is art that focuses on the concept – the idea behind the artwork. Conceptualism emphasizes the intellectual character of art, where it is not the object of artistic craftsmanship that is the most important element, but rather what led to its creation.
Conceptual art began to emerge as an artistic trend in the 1960s, in response to minimalism and pop art, which promoted the material value of artwork. Conceptualism, in contrast, promoted the superiority of the artistic process and the idea of the artwork over its form. Conceptualists were inspired by the achievements of the Bauhaus, Constructivists and Dadaists. Forerunners of dematerialized art include Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian and László Moholy-Naga.
In Poland, prominent conceptual artists include Stanisław Dróżdż, Tadeusz Kantor, Natalia LL, Ewa Partum or Roman Opałka. Art lovers mostly associate poetic realizations of Dróżdż, touching upon the problem of time, informel-conceptual assemblages of Kantor or conceptual tautological cinema of Partum.
Among foreign conceptual artists we should mention Ana Mendieta interested in organic materials, Joseph Kosuth inspired by the philosophy of language and psychoanalysis, Richard Long, also associated with "land art" and Barbara Kruger, crucial for politically and socially engaged feminist art.
