Label TextKosuth was at the forefront of a language-based movement that would become a part of Conceptual Art. This direct use of language was meant to steer art away from aesthetics and reground it in ideas, language, and science. Like Marcel Duchamp, who was an important influence on the Conceptualists, Kosuth questioned what could be considered acceptable content in art. When this work was created, abstraction was the prevailing style. Kosuth presents a contradiction to the word “abstraction” by portraying it in the most literal manner possible. Although the presentation of “abstract” as a concept is this work’s main aim, it exists as a visual object as well. The simple text against a black square, as well as the fact that Kosuth created many similar definitions for various art-related terms, relate the work to the simple shapes and repetitiveness of Minimalism.
Published ReferencesDES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.132
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.163, color ill. p.162
Published ReferencesDES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.132
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.163, color ill. p.162
DimensionsBoard: 48 × 48 × 1/4 in. (121.9 × 121.9 × 0.6 cm)
Accession Number 1977.36
Classificationswork on paper
CopyrightARS
Inscriptions"Documentation 'Titled (Art As Idea As Idea)'
January 1967 (upper half)
"photostat neg" (lower center)
"Joseph Kosuth" (lower left)
Provenance(Galerie Paul Maenz, Cologne); Mr. and Mrs. Paul Waldman, New York; Des Moines Art Center [gift of the previous, 1977]
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
1753
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
1753
