The Art & Language conversation: mapping a changing conceptual practice (1972-1987)

Abstract

 In 1972, the conceptual artist group Art & Language achieved a critical notoriety for exhibiting a mesmerizing “cartography” of an ongoing conversation at documenta 5, an international contemporary art event. A decade later, at documenta 7 in 1982, the same group displayed two large paintings depicting artists in their studios, muted by holding a paintbrush in their mouths. Through a series of works created during the 1970s and the 1980s, this article aims to sketch a challenging map of the transformations of the Art & Language conversation, in the face of collective issues and a tumultuous context.