A Brief Look At Sol Lewitt

In the 1960’s a new movement ‘conceptual art’ emerged during a period of major social mayhem, expanding what art can be breaking traditional conventions of craftsmanship and style, a constitutions ‘pristine idea of art’ by placing mass emphasis on the idea and concept. As the role of art as an object was radically reduced, social political and economic realities were becoming more prevalent within the art being made. In order to make the idea more predominant dematerialization was a fundamental practice within conceptual art; this does not mean the material disappears completely but it becomes obsolete it is usually lightweight, cheap, ephemeral and unpretentious as the focus is on the idea being paramount. With dematerialization being so dominant

LeWitts’ works often involved varying methods, repetition and serial pieces primarily with the use of geometric forms especially the cube. At one point his work would have been considered as abstract art but he choose for it to be considered conceptual. Although his art was non-narrative it did not feel static, it had a sense of intelligence that was engaging and challenged the viewer for example to see a cube as more then just a figure with six sides and with potential beyond stacking and storage. In January 1969 LeWitt’s sentences on conceptual art were first published in a magazine 0-9 and later in the year in Art-Language as a statement of independence of ‘art as an idea’. The text laid foundations for the radical openness of conceptual art, approaching ideals central to the understanding of it: genre, medium, aesthetics, its mission and concepts of art criticism themselves. New interpretations of Sol LeWitt's Sentences on Conceptual Art focus in particular on the art-status of criticism and its philosophical function of 'completing' works of

Conceptual art presented a radical, deconstructed art world that clearly still resonates in contemporary art today. A new standard in judgments on art has been given by conceptual art. Instead of facing a work of art questioning its beauty and appearance most now find themselves more often first asking is it interesting or what is the meaning behind it. Also for artists during the early stages of works a lot more thought is put into the concept and whether it will speak to the audience or if it is challenging the viewers perception of concerns today. You can see the influence of art as an idea present in numerous gallery spaces that are full of anything and everything from piles of rubbish to high tech electronics and everything else except modernist painting. Additionally there are still numerous contemporary artists that follow the idea introduced by conceptual art that within the extremely adaptable space of our imagination that an artwork can complete itself or take shape so therefore today Sol LeWitt’s concept all ideas not be made physical still resonates within the art world