XDKE8892

Dimensions:16.51cm x 5.08cm
Lawrence Weiner, one of the central figures of Conceptual art, was born February 10,
1942, in the Bronx, New York. In 1968 Weiner discovered that language could be used as the
primary vehicle for his work. Like other conceptual artists who gained international recognition in
the late 1960s and early 1970s, Weiner investigated forms of display and distribution that
challenged traditional notions that define the nature of the art object. The wall installations that
have been a primary medium for Weiner since the 1970s consist solely of words in a specific text
painted on walls. The lettering need not be done by the artist himself, as long as the sign painter
complies with the instructions dictated by the artist. Although his work focuses on the potential for
language to serve as an art form, the subjects of his poetic statements are often materials, or a
physical action or process. In the succeeding decades, Weiner explored the interaction of
punctuation, shapes, and color to serve as inflections of meaning for his texts. Weiner has been a
primary influence for many artists of subsequent generations of a text-based conceptual art.