Genuine Conceptualism
3 July–8 November 2014
Herbert Foundation
Coupure Links 627 A
9000 Ghent
Belgium
With Genuine Conceptualism, the Herbert Foundation presents the first in a series of archive exhibitions related to the planned opening of the Herbert Archive.
Developed by Lynda Morris, Genuine Conceptualism investigates the early years of conceptual art. The project is in two parts, and includes both a publication and an exhibition, each of which expands upon the other. The publication bundles together a rich variety of texts, interviews and articles on conceptualism which Morris has published in journals such as Studio International, Flash Art, The Listener and Art Monthly since the 1970s and recent articles and lectures on early conceptualism.
The exhibition takes up the ground floor of the exhibition space As if it Could and does not illustrate the publication, but is an attempt to use documents and works from Morris’s archive and collection to offer an alternative to the theoretical approach to the 1960s and 1970s. By means of the archive material and the texts in the publication, visitors are invited to create their own, direct reference to early conceptual art.
The selection of texts and archive materials for both exhibition and publication is closely connected to Lynda Morris’s personal experiences. In 1969 she was manager of the bookshop of the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) in London, and worked with Konrad Fischer on the exhibition When Attitudes Become Form, also in London. In 1971 she started a bookshop for Nigel Greenwood and proposed the exhibition Book as Artwork 1960/1972 based on Germano Celant’s Data text 1960/1970. In 1973 she graduated from the Royal College of Art with a comparative study of the teaching practice of Art & Language, Joseph Beuys and the Projects Class of Nova Scotia College of Arts & Design. As a freelance critic she closely followed and came to know artists such as Art & Language, Carl Andre, Joseph Beuys, Andre Cadere, Gilbert & George, David Lamelas and Mario Merz.
Since the 1980s Morris has taught at Norwich University of the Arts, where she supervised the doctorates of among others Catherine Mosely (Conception, Conceptual Documents 1968 to 1972, 2000) and Sophie Richard (Unconcealed: The International Network of Conceptual Artists 1967–77—Dealers, Exhibitions and Public Collections, 2009) as well as curating the Norwich gallery and EAST International.
Use Me
Use Me runs concurrently with the exhibition Genuine Conceptualism on Lynda Morris. It is the third collective presentation of the Herbert Foundation, following the opening exhibition As It Could, ouverture (20 June–26 October 2013) and Musée à Vendre Pour Cause de Faillite in mumok in Vienna (21 February–18 May 2014).
Whereas Genuine Conceptualism deals with the 1960s and 1970s, Use Me concentrates on a generation of artists from the 1980s who are represented in the Herbert Collection. This selection is augmented by several works on loan from public and private collections.
The exhibition was put together by Anton Herbert and Laura Hanssens, and presents 40 works by Jean-Marc Bustamante, Wim Delvoye, Katharina Fritsch, Robert Gober, Mike Kelley, Martin Kippenberger, Paul McCarthy, Reinhard Mucha, Kurt Ryslavy, Thomas Schütte, Jan Vercruysse, Franz West and Heimo Zobernig.
The exhibitions can be visited on Thursdays, Fridays (guided visits only) and Saturdays (free visit) between 4 July and 8 November. Sign up via the website.
