© R. Cumming

Conceptual Art

Conceptual art is based on an idea such as a text, mathematical equation, or activity. It can include words, drawings, photographs, sculpture, video, performance, or installation. Conceptualism emerged during the 1960s and ’70s and is now fundamental to contemporary art. It grants artists permission to pursue ideas in every imaginable form.

  • This is a photograph of a typed card with text. The background of the card is plain and of a neutral tone, and the text is aligned to the left.
  • This is a photograph of ten black-and-white images placed diagonally on a deep blue wall, each with a text block above or below them. They start at the top left corner of the image and travel down to the bottom right corner. The images are created of several photographs placed together. They show repetitive shapes that are hard to identify.
  • A fine but dense, layered web of blue, red, yellow, and black hair-thin lines fill a white surface in this horizontal work of art.

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A composite of Michael Vinson's oil painting portraits of Herbert Vogel and Dorothy Vogel

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The backs of two splayed hands, palms down with one coming down from the top and one up from the bottom, nearly fill this vertical photograph and are shown lightly entwined in a field of dark fabric. The image is monochromatic like a black and white photograph but is printed in tones of golden and dark brown. The thumb of the left hand, coming up from the bottom, points upward so the fingers splay elegantly to our left. The forefinger and thumb touch to hold a needle stitching the dark fabric. The right hand comes down to our right and almost touches the left hand. The index finger is bent under at the first knuckle, and the ring and pinkie fingers gently curve downward into the fabric. The middle finger extends straight and is capped with a shiny thimble, which nearly touches the thumb of the opposite hand. The skin on the hands and wrists is smooth and the photograph is lightly blurred, creating the impression of a patina. The folds of the gathered fabric create a shadowy pinwheel effect.

Photography 

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was the first to permanently record an image using light in 1837. His daguerreotype changed the way we consume images. Many innovations like stereographic photographs and tintypes would follow but it was George Eastman’s invention of the Kodak film camera in 1888 that made cameras widely available.

Architecture

Artists often depict the built environment. We can visit some of the world’s most magnificent buildings and architectural innovations through artworks.