Lawrence Weiner, one of the central figures of Conceptual art, will present a talk on his work at 7:30 p.m. in Syracuse University's Shaffer Art Building, Room 121. The discussion, part of the Visiting Artist and Speakers Program in the Department of Studio Arts, College of Visual and Performing Arts, is free and open to the public.
Weiner gained international recognition for his work during the 1960s. A turning point in his artistic approach occurred in 1968 when he created a work for an outdoor exhibition organized by the Seth Siegelaub Gallery at Windham College in Putney, Vt., and subsequently discovered the power of language as the primary vehicle for his work. Like other conceptual artists of the time period, Weiner has investigated forms of display and distribution that challenge traditional assumptions about the nature of the art object, but he was one of the first artists to enter the realm of language and ideas.
Weiner's wall installations consist solely of words in a nondescript lettering painted on walls. The artist himself need not do the lettering, as long as the sign painter complies with the instructions dictated by the artist.
Solo exhibitions of the artist's work have been mounted at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. (1990), the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London (1991), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1994) and the Museum Ludwig in Cologne (1995).
