Art into Ideas: Essays on Conceptual Art (Contemporary Artists and their Critics)

Art into Ideas provides an overview of one of the most important and influential developments in American and European art over the past thirty years. Focusing on works by a range of international artists, including Joseph Kosuth, Hans Haacke, Sherrie Levine and Joseph Beuys, Robert Morgan defines and elucidates the premises of conceptual art. He examines its evolution, from its inception in the 1960s through the 1980s, relating the movement to historical and cultural contexts, as well as to important theoretical and critical issues that emerged during these decades. Defining three primary modes of representation that characterise conceptual art - the philosophical, the structural, and the systemic - Morgan then applies these concepts in analyses of a variety of media, including painting, photography, books, and performance.