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The role of language in conceptual art aids in the emphasis of ideas over visual forms, challenging the traditional art object. Central to many artists’ practices in the 1960s and beyond was this intersection of linguistic and visual representation. Mel Bochner’s early practice probes the ways in which we receive and interpret information. In Forgetting Is The Only Continuum, first conceived of in 1970, Bochner questions the essential relationship between an idea and the means of its communication; this body of work marked a critical moment in the history of early conceptual art.
Mel Bochner
Forgetting Is The Only Continuum, 1970 / 2018
Acrylic paint and oil pastel on wall
180.3 x 121.9 cm (71 x 48 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Mel Bochner
John Baldessari
Word Chain: Faucet (Ilene's story), 1975
2 parts: colour and b&w 35mm contacts on grid paper
i: 83.8 x 68.6 cm (33 x 27 in.) ii: 21.6 x 27.9 cm (8 1/2 x 11 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © John Baldessari
Marcel Broodthaers
Roule Moule, 1967
White and blue painted panel, mussel shells, book pages
70 x 33.5 x 2.2 cm (27.5 x 13 1/4 x 1 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Marcel Broodthaers
Richard Prince
Two Pants Suit, 1989
Acrylic on silkscreen on canvas
172.72 x 121.92 cm (68 x 48 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Richard Prince
Cy Twombly
Seguso, 1976
Watercolour, wax crayon, pencil on paper
Unframed: 97.2 x 127 cm (38 1/4 x 50 in.) Framed: 106.7 x 136.5 x 6.5 cm (42 1/8 x 53 3/4 x 2 1/2 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Cy Twombly
Poised on the precipice between the verbal and visual, Cy Twombly’s Seguso (1976) synthesises image and language. Confronted with calligraphic scrawls, the viewer strives to find legibility in a composition that defies any coherent reading. With his poetic output, Twombly complicated the notion of text in art, at once profoundly communicating with his audience and at the same time, mystifying meaning.
Jenny Holzer
Untitled (Selection from the SURVIVAL SERIES) 1983-85 (Turn soft and lovely anytime you have a chance.), 1983-85
Cast aluminium
7.6 x 25.4 cm (3 x 10 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Jenny Holzer
Betty Tompkins
Apologia (Caravaggio #5), 2018
Acrylic on book page
30.5 x 22.2 cm (12 1/8 x 8 3/4 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Betty Tompkins
Bethany Collins
The Odyssey: 2000 / 1980 / 1961, 2020
Graphite and toner on Somerset paper
Three parts Overall dimensions: 111.8 x 76.2 cm (44 x 30 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Bethany Collins
Gary Simmons’ practice uses the act of erasure to reflect on African American social and cultural narratives. In Moreland Midnight (2018) he smudges the name of Mantan Moreland, a now forgotten black actor of the 1930s and 40s, across the paper leaving a spectral residue that evokes a sense of loss while simultaneously conveying the power of memory. In Andrea Bowers’ work, art and politics intersect. Her interest in nonviolent protest and civil disobedience is motivated by a fascination with the history of political activism and its visual language, as seen in the rallying cry of Educate, Agitate, Organize (2010).
Gary Simmons
Moreland Midnight, 2018
Paint and chalk on paper
127 x 92.1 cm (50 x 36 1/4 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Gary Simmons
Andrea Bowers
Educate, Agitate, Organize, 2010
Low voltage LED lights, plexi-glass, aluminium
Educate: 47.6 x 153.4 x 13.7 cm (18 3/4 x 60 3/8 x 5 3/8 in.); Agitate: 67.3 x 168.3 x 13.7 cm (26 1/2 x 66 1/4 x 5 3/8 in.); Organize: 67.3 x 172.7 x 13.7 cm (26 1/2 x 68 x 5 3/8 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Andrea Bowers
Betty Tompkins
What does..., 2018
Acrylic on canvas
61 x 61 cm (24 1/8 x 24 1/8 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Betty Tompkins
Dexter Dalwood
Wall, 2017
Oil on canvas
130 x 97 cm (51 1/8 x 38 1/4 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Dexter Dalwood
George Condo
Untitled, 1985
Oil on canvas
Framed: 38 x 33 cm (15 x 13 in.) Unframed: 30 x 25 cm (11 3/4 x 9 7/8 in.)
© George Condo. Courtesy the artist and Simon Lee Gallery
Michael Simpson
Dead Cross, 2020
Oil on canvas in two parts
36 x 52 cm (14 1/8 x 20 1/2 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Michael Simpson
Dexter Dalwood
EXIT, 2020
Oil and pencil on canvas
61 x 46 cm (24 1/8 x 18 1/8 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Dexter Dalwood
Paulina Olowska
Haunted Houses, 2019
Oil on canvas
240 x 150 x 2.5 cm (94 1/2 x 59 1/8 x 1 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Paulina Olowska
Elsewhere, text is used for its arresting, graphic quality. In Haunted Houses (2019), Paulina Olowska uses text as a headline, to condense and contextualise her readings of feminist discourse, inspired by the writings of Simone de Beauvoir and readings on witchcraft, the occult and symbolic burial. Similarly, in the works of Heimo Zobernig, Lawrence Weiner, and Donna Huddleston, words are used with the intention to strike; once the words have been read, the viewer is left to contemplate their arrangement, presentation and significance.
Heimo Zobernig
Untitled, 2010
Acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
© Heimo Zobernig. Courtesy the artist and Simon Lee Gallery
Lawrence Weiner
a black mark upon the earth, 1984
Language + the materials referred to
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Lawrence Weiner
Donna Huddleston
Parade, 2019
Emulsion and gouache on the wall
100 x 115 cm (39 3/8 x 45 1/4 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Donna Huddleston
Josephine Pryde
The Semen of an Anonymous Stallion Exposed in Artificial Light (80mm, Spectrum Green through Maroon), 2017
C-print, unique photogram
50 x 80 cm (19 3/4 x 31 1/2 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Josephine Pryde
Josephine Pryde
The Semen of an Anonymous Stallion Exposed in Artificial Light (80mm, Royal Blue Bigger Splash), 2017
C-print, unique photogram
50 x 80 cm (19 3/4 x 31 1/2 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Josephine Pryde
Merlin Carpenter
The Opening: Intrinsic Value: 5, 2009
Oil on linen
213.4 x 152.4 cm (84 x 60 in.)
Courtesy of the artist and Simon Lee Gallery. © Merlin Carpenter
