Art & Language

The Concept Art collective Art & Language were founded by Terry Atkinson, Michael Baldwin, David Bainbridge and Harold Hurrell, in 1968. There had been a continual influx of new members in England as well as in America (among others Joseph Kosuth, Ian Burn, Charles Harrison, Philip Pilkington, Mel Ramsden, David Rushton, Graham Howard, Terry Smith), until the American part of the collective dissolved, in 1976. The programmatically oriented artist’s group works primarily according to an art-theoretical approach and presents texts and models in exhibitions, which summarize the respective status of the group-internal discussion. Instead of the programmatic legitimation of an art production, the ongoing concern of Art & Language has been the differentiation of the theoretical approach. Until today numerous manuscripts, theoretical publications and texts have been produced but also paintings, drawings and installations. The self-appointed task of the collective to present art which reflects on art within an artistic context continues unchanged until today – however, the share of the visible as opposed to the readable has substantially increased.

[2008]