Art & Language

The activities of Art & Language have been marked from the outset by practical variety, by resistance to easy categorisation and by a tendency to provoke open and reflexive enquiry. Art & Language’s earliest works date from before 1968, when the name was first adopted as the name of an artistic practice. In the following year, the first issue of the journal Art-Language was published in England. Then and over the next few years Art & Language provided a common identity for a number of people already involved in various types of collaboration. The mid 1960s had seen widespread collapse in the authority of those individualistic cultural protocols which go under the name of Modernism, and the coming together of the two terms ‘Art’ and ‘Language’ served to recognise a range of intellectual concerns and artistic expedients which that collapse had occasioned. For a variety of activities which bore practically and critically upon the concept of art, but which were at home neither in the studio nor in the gallery, Art & Language promised a social base in shared conversation. That conversation in turn transformed the practice of those involved and generated other kinds of work.

Experimental and sceptical, perhaps their most famous work is Index 01, exhibited at dOCUMENTA 5, Kassel, Germany (1972), a catalogue of their writings in eight filing cabinets presented on four plinths at eye level. Major solo exhibitions include 'Figure it out who can', Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin, Germany (2019); ‘Nobody Spoke’, Kunstsaele, Berlin, Germany (2017); Museu d’Art Contemporary de Barcelona (MACBA), Barcelona, Spain (2014); Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium (2013); Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland (2012); Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland (2009); Centro De Arte Contemporáneo (CAC) Málaga, Spain (2004); MoMA PS1, New York, USA (1999); ICA, London, UK (1991); Tate Gallery, London, UK (1985); Musée d’Art Moderne, Toulon, France (1982) and Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK (1974). Art & Language have participated in numerous group exhibitions, including 'Guernica' at the National Picasso Museum in Paris, France (2017); 'Conceptual Art in Britain: 1964-1979', Tate Britain, London, UK (2016); ‘Before Normal: Concept After Concept’, Museet for Samtidskunst, Roskkilde, Denmark (2014); ‘Invisible: Art about the Unseen 1957–2012', Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2012); ‘Sound of Music’, Turner Contemporary, Margate, Kent, UK (2009); dOCUMENTA 10, Kassel, Germany (1997), dOCUMENTA 7, Kassel, Germany (1982), the Xème Biennale Internationale d’Art, Palais de L’Europe, Menton, France (1974). In 1986 they were nominated for the Turner Prize.

Recent, current and forthcoming projects

‘Now They Are,’ Jesus College, Cambridge, UK (23 June - 9 Aug 2021)

Art & Language
A Shadow on the Tongue IV

2019
Indian ink over text on Teslin 168 x 148 cm (overall) 66 1/8 x 58 1/4 in (overall)

Art & Language
A Shadow on the Tongue XIII

2019
Acrylic over text on Teslin 168 x 148 cm (overall) / 66 1/8 x 58 1/4 in (overall)

Art & Language
10 Posters

2018
Portfolio of 10 silkscreen prints on 300 gram Hahnemuhle rag paper
120 x 80 cm (each print)
47 1/8 x 31 1/2 in (each print)

Art & Language
10 Posters

2018
Portfolio of 10 silkscreen prints on 300 gram Hahnemuhle rag paper
120 x 80 cm (each print)
47 1/8 x 31 1/2 in (each print)

Art & Language
10 Posters

2018
Portfolio of 10 silkscreen prints on 300 gram Hahnemuhle rag paper
120 x 80 cm (each print)
47 1/8 x 31 1/2 in (each print)

Art & Language
A Bad Place

2018
Indian ink on laser printed text on Teslin 250 x 710 cm / 98 3/8 x 279 1/2 in

Art & Language
Now They Are II

2016
Indian Ink on laser printed text on Teslin 144 SRA3 sheets, each 45 x 31.7 cm overall dimensions variable / 144 SRA3 sheets, each 17 5/8 x 12 3/8 in overall dimensions variable

Art & Language
Have You Ever Seen Me ? I

2016
Acrylic, collage and mixed media on paper 76 x 76 cm / 29 7/8 x 29 7/8 in

Art & Language
Not That it is Needed Now (Oak) VIII

2015
Oil on paper mounted on aluminium 34 X 34 cm / 13 3/8 x 13 3/8 in

Art & Language
Not That it is Needed Now (Archive) XX

2015
Oil and mixed media on canvas 61 x 61 cm / 24 x 24 in

Art & Language
Tell Me, Have You Ever Seen Me? II, Xi Jinping

2014
Printed text on paper, ink, pencil and mixed media on paper, vitrine 120 x 50 x 50 cm / 47 1/4 x 19 11/16

Art & Language
Tell Me, Have You Ever Seen Me? II, Xi Jinping

2014
Printed text on paper, ink, pencil and mixed media on paper, vitrine 120 x 50 x 50 cm / 47 1/4 x 19 11/16

Art & Language
Sea Ghost III

2014
Acrylic with ink and mixed media on canvas 176 x 149.5 x 4 cm / 68 3/8 x 59 x 1 3/4 in.

Art & Language
Sea Ghost V

2014
Acrylic with ink and mixed media on canvas 176 x 149.5 x 4 cm / 69 3/8 x 59 x 1 3/4 in.

Art & Language
Nobody Spoke

2013-2014
Installation comprising 17 chairs, alogram on canvas over plywood with acrylic and mixed media 3 ‘chairs’, 101.3 x 35.5 x 48.3 cm; 7 ‘chairs’, 96.7 x 38 x 44.4 cm; 7 ‘chairs’, 92 x 35.5 x 43 cm

Art & Language
Nobody Spoke

Art & Language
Portraits and a Dream III

2013
Printed paper and mixed media, 144 prints on paper, 144 garlands consisting of 16 links 300 x 755 x 830 cm / 118 1/8 x 297 1/4 x 326 3/4 in.

Art & Language
Portrait and a Dream XI

1968-2011
Ink on photostat and mixed media Part 1, 69.0 x 107.0 cm / 27 3/16 x 42 1/8 in. Part 2, 53.0 x 48.0 cm / 20 7/8 x 18 7/8 in.

Art & Language
Portrait and a Dream VII

1981-2011
Ink and crayon on paper and mixed media Part 1-2, 67.0 x 99.3 cm / 26 3/8 x 39 1/16 in. Part 3, 53.0 x 48.0 cm / 20 7/8 x 18 7/8 in.

Art & Language
Portrait and a Dream IX

1966-2011
Ink and acrylic on paper and mixed media Parts 1-2, 81.2 x 62.3 cm / 32 x 24 1/2 in. Part 3, 53.0 x 48.0 cm / 20 7/8 x 18 7/8

Art & Language
Portraits and a Dream

2009
Printed paper and mixed media Part 1: 144 pages of 32 lines of text each printed on grey A3 paper plus one blank page, arranged in a grid and pasted onto one wall. Part 2: 144 sets of ‘paperchains’ consisting of 16 links, suspended in rows on cables stretched between two walls and running parallel to the wall of text pages.

Art & Language
The Impression of Liars’ Voices

2009
Acrylic on canvas and mixed media Framed picture: 97.3 x 72.3 x 3.2 cm / 38 5/16 x 28 7/16 x 1 1/4 in. Chair: 98 x 48.5 x 36 cm / 38 9/16 x 19 1/16 x 14 3/16 in.

Art & Language
Portraits and a Dream

Art & Language
The Background of a Hostage Incident

2009
Acrylic on canvas and mixed media Framed picture: 29.3 x 27.9 x 3.2 cm / 11.54 x 11 x 1 1/14 in. Chair: 89.6 x 42.3 x 35 cm / 35 1/4 x 16 5/8 x 13 3/4 in.

Art & Language
Portrait of Vladimir Putin in the Style of Jackson Pollock

2009
Oil and enamel on canvas; pencil on paper Painting: 84.5 x 75 cm / 33 1/4 x 29 1/2 in. Drawing: 25 x 21 cm / 9 13/16 x 8 1/4 in.

Art & Language
Now They Are Again No Secret

2009
Acrylic on canvas and mixed media Framed picture: 50.6 x 61.8 x 3.2 cm 19 15/16 x 24 5/16 x 1 1/4 in. Chair: 100.7 x 47.3 x 39 cm / 39 5/8 x 18 5/8 x 15 3/8 in.