MEL BOCHNER, A PIONEER IN THE FIELD OF CONCEPTUAL ART, was one o f the

first artists in the 1960s to introduce language into the visual field. W h i l e critics have long

been attentive to and appreciative o f Bochner's recurring themes, i nc lud ing his interest in

measurement, count ing , and shape, his explorat ion of the relationship between language

and v i s ion has remained vir tual ly undocumented . T h i s focus exhib i t ion at the A r t Institute

o f Ch i c a go brings together more than 50 works o n paper, paintings, sculptures, photo­

graphs, and installations to present an overview o f his language-based investigations over

the past four decades.

MEL

BOCHNERLANGUAGE

1966-2006

T h e study o f language has played a

transformative role i n the evolut ion o f

Bochner's art. After graduating from Carnegie

Institute o f Technology i n 1962, he traveled

around M e x i c o and lived in both San

Francisco and Ch icago , where he audited

phi losophy classes at Northwestern Univers i ty

and frequently visited the A r t Institute o f

Ch icago . A t the t ime, Northwestern was one

o f the leading strongholds o f Con t inen ta l

philosophy, and its influence, c o m b i n e d

wi th his desire to produce art, led h i m to

N e w York. In Bochner's early notebooks, he

expressed "interest i n formal and semantic

reversals, in w o r d and image," as wel l as his

efforts at " t rying to make objects funct ion

as language i n anothet discourse." 1

T h e year 1966 was a watershed for Bochner.

In addi t ion to publ i sh ing art c r i t ic ism o n

the M i n i m a l i s t movement, he under took

a series o f w o r d portraits. In these works,

Bochner used the thesaurus as a reference

to flesh out an attribute o f his subject w i t h

synonyms. L i n k i n g the contextual w i t h

the visual, Bochner presented the words

i n a form that was particularly relevant to

his subject's work and persona. Portrait of

Eva Hesse, for example, takes the shape o f

one or Hesse's early sculptures o f wrapped,

painted cord la id d o w n onto prepared

Masoni te , whi le Bochner's choice o f words

alludes to the method, cond i t ion , and

effects o f her sculptural strategy. A l t h o u g h

the w o r d portraits may be traced back to

concrete poetry—poems i n the shape o f

things—exemplif ied by the French poet

G u i l l a u m e Apollinaire 's calligrammes (1918),

it was Bochner's serialization o f language that

dist inguished his works t rom those or his

predecessors. In the portraits, language is "a

passive list o f elements rather than an active

description of the indiv idual i ty of a person,

i m p l y i n g that language and experience

can never be made congruent. ' Bochner,

i n col laborat ion w i t h the artist Robert

Smi thson , also produced the first magazine

intervention, The Domain of the Great Bear.

O n e of three such pieces o n display i n the

exhib i t ion , this work uses the magazine page

as a gallery space. By presenting an article

ostensibly about the H a y d e n Planetarium in

an art magazine (but not announc ing that

it was an artwork), they created a work that

was a reproduct ion wi thout ever having been

an or iginal . Taken together, the magazine

intervention pieces represent a subversive

crit ique o f "the character o f the institutions

that collected and merchandised art, and the

language w i t h w h i c h it was interpreted." 3

W h i l e teaching i n N e w York at the School

o f V i s u a l Ar t s i n the fall o f that same year,

Bochner installed his influential Working

Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper

Not Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed as Art,

w h i c h has been called the first Concep tua l

art exhibi t ion. ' 1 Bochner invi ted artists

whose work he admired to provide h i m

wi th materials that were not self-consciously

"works o f art." H e then photocopied the

motley col lect ion o f sketches, invoices,

and ephemera (as well as projects by other

intellectual workers inc lud ing mathematicians

and scientists) reproducing them at a un i fo rm

size and arranging them alphabetically i n a

three-ring binder. T o emphasize the fact that

these objects were reproductions, not original

artworks, Bochner made four identical copies

o f the binder, each o f w h i c h was displayed

o n a table-height pedestal. Since no chairs

were provided, v iewing the books, whi le bent

over, became a physical challenge. T h e objects

themselves were reproductions that had

no inherent aesthetic value, and by placing

them in a large, otherwise empty gallery,

the artist questioned prevail ing assumptions

about both the content and the installation

o f artworks. C o n t a i n e d w i t h i n this project

are several concepts that w o u l d cont inue to

inform Bochner's w o r k — a n emphasis o n

serial process, a concern w i t h the difference

between reading and seeing, and a heightened

attention to h o w a work can alter, and be

altered by, the space o f the gallery.

O f equal importance i n the development o f

Bochner's ideas was his teaching a n history

at the School o f the Vi sua l Arts , rather than

studio art. T h i s , Bochner has said, "forced

me to t h i n k about h o w visual ideas can

be discussed—the relat ionship between

Theory of Boundaries, i c - ' O . N a t i o n a l G a l l e n ' or A r t , Wash ing ton , D . C .

Theory of Syntax (ist Version), 1971. C o l l e c t i o n o f Barrv Le V a .

language and images. W h e n y o u are

s tanding i n front o f a class s h o w i n g slides

o f paint ings that is exactly what y o u are

engaged i n : t h i n k i n g through h o w images

convey i d e a s . T h e s e realizations, coup led

w i t h the artist's interest i n the early-20th-

century Aus t r i an phi losopher L u d w i g

Wittgenstein 's l inguis t ic theories about the

nature o f logical proposi t ions , added a new

d i m e n s i o n to Bochner 's cr i t ical investigation

o f language. H e was especially interested in

Wittgenstein 's no t ion that proposi t ions are

b ipo la r—tha t they must be capable o f be ing

both true and false—and his statement,

" T h e l imi t s o f m y language are the l imi t s o f

m y w o r l d . " 6

Between 1969 and 1973, B o c h n e r created

drawings, paint ings, and sculptures that use

these ideas to visual ly examine the veracity

o f some basic l inguis t ic and mathemat ica l

proposi t ions . H e r e they are powerful ly

realized as Prepositional Sculpture (1969),

Language Is Not Transparent (1970), Theory of

Boundaries (1970), Counting Alternatives (The

Wittgenstein Illustrations) (1971; exh ib i ted as

p r in ted i l lustrat ions for the 1991 pub l i ca t ion

o f On Certainty), and Axiom of Indifference

(1973). Each o f these works presents direct,

seemingly s imple statements—or, i n the case

o f The Wittgenstein Illustrations, c o u n t i n g

sequences—but reveals them to be visual ly

and conceptual ly perplexing. Language Is

Not Transparent provides perhaps the most

l u c i d example o f this. W r i t t e n i n chalk

over a section o f black paint that B o c h n e r

a l lowed to d r ip , the w o r k vacillates between

an expressionistically painted field and a co ld

declarat ion o f fact. T h e phrase "Language

Is N o t Transparent" signifies that words are

never a s imple representation o f t h o u g h t —

they are always colored by the subjective and

undisclosed ideologies o f the speaker.

For The Wittgenstein Illustrations, Bochne r

used a square matr ix that is d i v i d e d i n ha l f

diagonally, vertically, and horizontal ly .

A l o n g these Cartesian coordinates, he drew

patterns o f numbers sequentially, i n cardinal

order. In this work , c o u n t i n g acts as a

universal language, leading viewers th rough

the drawings as they read the numer ica l

sequences. However , the numbers were

d rawn freehand, and they do not always

match the geometry or trajectory a long

w h i c h they travel. Therefore, despite the

i m p l i e d cert i tude o f a geometr ic system

that w o u l d appear to be infal l ible , B o c h n e r

demonstrated i n visual terms h o w any

rat ional system can falter a n d eventual ly

break d o w n completely.

L ikewise , Theory of Boundaries and Axiom

of Indifference l inguis t ica l ly compl ica te ou r

comprehens ion o f space. In the former

piece, B o c h n e r rubbed w i t h d ry p igment

four large squares arranged equidis tant lv

across a w a l l . In the center o f each square

he wrote the fractional statements "a t / in ,"

"over / in , " " / i n , " and "at/out," descr ib ing

the c o n d i t i o n o f the colored p igment i n

relat ionship to the bounda ry o f the ruled

square. Axiom of Indifference is a floor piece

consis t ing o f eight, 12-inch m a s k i n g tape

squares o n the f loor (four o n each side o f

a wal l ) , w i t h three pennies i n a par t icular

relat ion to each square, and an equal n u m b e r

o f sentences wr i t t en i n i nk o n the m a s k i n g

tape d o c u m e n t i n g the loca t ion o f the

pennies compared to the taped boundaries

("all are i n / a l l are out; all are not i n / a l l are

not out; some are i n ; some are out; some are

not i n ; some are not out") . B y descr ib ing the

associations o f surface and edge, in te r io r i ty

and exteriority, B o c h n e r used language

to explore the ambigu i ty o f spatial terms,

revealing the often self-contradictory

relat ionship between descr ip t ion and reality.

In true e l l ip t ica l fashion, Bochner 's most

recent Thesaurus Paintings l ook back to

his earliest mature d rawings—the w o r d

portraits. Fo r the portraits, B o c h n e r

used Roget's Thesaurus as a source because

it represented "objectified language, a

warehouse for words ." O n the occasion

o f his 1995 retrospective e x h i b i t i o n at Yale

Univers i ty A r t Gal le ry , N e w H a v e n , the

artist had a chance to reconsider these 1966

works , and realized that "there was st i l l juice

left i n the i d e a . ' s T h r o u g h o u t his career,

B o c h n e r has recycled ideas, because the

elasticity o f mean ing i n his earlier w o r k

has a l lowed concepts to be renewed by

constantly changing their visual contexts.

T h e reconsideration o f the 1966 portraits

p rompted further development o f the idea,

w h i c h d i d not come to f ru i t ion u n t i l 2002,

w h e n he discovered a new ed i t ion o f Roget's

Thesaurus. B o c h n e r was amazed by the

book's new attitude toward language and

that it n o w includes co l loqu ia l speech as

wel l as obscenity. Because students were

using the b o o k — a m o n g them his teenage

daughter—he realized that this represented a

significant shift i n society's mora l standards.

Bochne r began reading the new ed i t ion ,

a l l owing the words themselves to suggest

subjects for his work . U n l i k e the neutral

or objectified tone that the earlier portraits

emit , the Thesaurus Paintings have been

described as "dark thoughts" i n w h i c h the

"pain t ing lists the synonyms o f an intensely

fraught w o r d whose centrali ty to the

h u m a n experience has spawned a pungent

array o f vernacular expressions, vulgarities

and epithets." 9 E a c h w o r d is painted i n

a different color, i n hand lettering that

undoub ted ly reflects the influence o f his

father, a sign painter. T h e lists o f words are

arranged i n hor izonta l rows, forc ing some

o f them to wrap inconsistent ly to the next

l ine , emphas iz ing the fact that the synonyms

become increasingly obscene and bod i ly as

the pa in t ing progresses. Bochner 's use o f

co lor also diverts the text f rom its du ty to

convey meaning , interfering w i t h our abi l i ty

to read the paint ings i n the convent iona l

narrative way—lef t to right, and top to

bot tom—because some o f the colors are so

close i n value to the painting's g r o u n d that

they disappear, wh i l e others scream w i t h

intense levels o f saturation. T h e result ing

d i scon t inu i ty functions as a cr i t ique o f the

super imposed orderliness, as wel l the i m p l i e d

Counting Alternatives (The Wittgenstein Illustrations): Asterisk Branch. 1971/91.

C o l l e c t i o n o f Suzanne F. C o h e n . Bal t imore .

Axiom of Indifference. 1973. T h e M u s e u m o f M o d e r n A r t , N e w York.

objectivity, o f Roget's concept o f language.

A b o u t the Thesaurus Paintings, Bochne r

has said, " T h e h u m o r in these paint ings

has someth ing to do w i t h the devo lu t ion o f

language, f rom the formal and proper to the

vulgar and nasty. There's a narrative i n that

d o w n w a r d spiral . O f course, that raises the

quest ion o f w h o is speaking. T h e artist? T h e

thesaurus? A voice i n your head?" 1 0

For over 40 years, M e l Bochner's art has

remained fiercely commi t t ed to unravel ing

language's relationship to experience. Perhaps

his approach to the visual representation

of language is best summarized by the text o f

one o f his 1969 Notecard àvzWmgs:

N O T H O U G H T E X I S T S W I T H O U T A

S U S T A I N I N G S U P P O R T .

1. Q u o t e d i n R i c h a r d S. F ie ld , " M e l Bochner : T h o u g h t M a d e

V i s i b l e , " in Mel Bochner: Thought Made Visible 1066-¡97}, exh.

cat. (Yale Univers i ty A r t Gal lery , 199s), pp . 15—16.

2. Ib id . , p. 23.

3. Ib id . , p. 24.

4. Ben jamin B u c h l o h , " C o n c e p t u a l A r t 1962-1969: F r o m the

Aesthetic o f A d m i n i s t r a t i o n to the C r i t i q u e o f Ins t i tu t ion ,"

October ( W i n t e r 1990), pp. 105-43, ci ted i n F ie ld (note 1),

p. 24 n. 30.

5. Q u o t e d in "In conversat ion: M e l Bochne r w i t h P h o n g B u i . "

Brooklyn Rail (May 2006) , p. 16.

6. L u d w i g Wi t tgens te in , Tracta tus Logico-Philosophicus

(Harcourt . Brace, and C o m p a n v / K . Paul , Trench, Truber, 1922).

7. Q u o t e d i n M a r k Godfrey, "Language Factory: M e l Bochne r

talks to M a r k Godf rev about words , portraits. R o g é i s

Thesaurus, color, Jorge Luis Borges, h u m o u r , nostalgia and

pol i t i ca l engagement." Frieze$~> ( N o v . / D e c . 2004), p. 103.

8. Q u o t e d i n Godf rey (note 7), p. 103.

9. Rober ta S m i t h , New York Times, June 16, 2006, p . E33.

10. Q u o t e d in Godr r ey (note 7), p. 104.

MARK PASCALE

ASSOICATE CURATOR OF PRINTS AND DRAWINGSS

Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed as Art, 1966. C o l l e c t i o n o f the artist.

M E L B O C H N E R

Born Pittsburgh, 1940

B F A from Carnegie Institute of

Technology, Pittsburgh, 1962

Lives and works in N e w York

2007

Mel Bochner: Drawing

from Four Decades, San

Diego Museum o f Ar t ;

Weatherspoon Ar t Museum,

University o f Nor th Carol ina ,

Greensboro; Bi rmingham

Museum of Ar t ; Werner H .

Kramarsky, N e w York (cat.

with essay by Ruth Fine)

2006

Thesaurus Paintings, Peter

Freeman, Inc., N e w York

2003

Mel Bochner opere recenti,

Gallería d 'Arte i l Gabbiano,

Rome

Mel Bochner: Photographs

IÇ66-1969, Carnegie Museum

o f Ar t , Pittsburgh; Harvard

University A n Museums,

Cambridge, Massachusetts (cat.

with essays bv Scon Rothkopf

and Elisabeth Sussrnan)

2002

Mel Bochner: Measurements:

Works from the 1960S/1990S,

Fonds Regional d 'Art

Contemporain de Borgogne,

Di jon (cat. with essay bv

Hubert Besacier and interview

with Claire Legrand)

2001

Mel Bochner Blue Powder

Pigment Wall Pieces, 1968-69:

Drawings and Installations,

Grant Selwyn Fine Arts,

Beverly Hi l l s

1999

Centro de Arte Hel io Oit ic ica ,

R io de Janeiro, 1999 (cat.)

1998

Mel Bochner: Drawings

1966-197$, Lawrence Markey,

N e w York (cat. wi th essay by

Barn- Schwabsky)

1996

Me I Bochner: Thought Made

Visible 1966-19/$, Stadtische

Galerie im Lenbachhaus,

M u n i c h ; La Société des

Expositions du Palais des

Beaux-Arts, Brussels; Yale

University Ar t Gallery (cat.

with essays by Richard S.

Field, James Meyer, Yve-Alain

Bois, et al.)

1973

Mel Bochner: Axiom of

Indifference, Sonnabend

Gallery, N e w York (cat.)

1972

Mel Bochner: 7 Properties of

Between, Sonnabend Gallery

1970

Toselli Gallery, M i l a n

1966

Working Drawings and Other

Visible Things on Paper Not

Necessarily Meant to Be Viewed

as Art, School o f the Visual

Arts Gallery, New York

2004

Whitney Biennial Whi tney

Museum of American Ar t

(cat. with essay by Chrissie

Iles et al.)

1996

196-)—199s: Reconsidering the

Object of Art, Museum of

Contemporary Art Los Angeles

(cat. with essays by A n n

Goldstein, Anne Rorimer,

Lucy R. Lippard, et al.)

1991

WORDS & #s. Museum of

Contemporary Art , Wright

State University, Dayton ,

O h i o (cat.)

E X H I B I T I O N S

S E L E C T E D O N E - P E R S O N

SELECTED GROUP

EXHIBITIONS

1990

L'Art conceptuel, une

perspective. Musée d 'Art

Moderne de la V i l l e de Paris

(cat. with essay bv Benjamin

H . D . Buchloh)

1985

The Maximal Implications

of the Minimal Line, M i l t o n

and Sally Avery Center

for the Arts, Bard College,

Annandale-on-Hudson,

N e w York (cat.)

1984

Flyktpunkterf\ranishing Points,

Moderna Museet, Stockholm

(cat. wi th essay by Lucv R.

I. ippard)

1974

Line as Language: Six Artists

Draw, Princeton University

Art Museum, Princeton, N e w

Jersey (cat. wi th essay by

Rosalind Krauss)

1971

Situation Concepts, Gallery

Nachst, St. Stephen,

Innsbruck

1970

Language IV, D w a n Gallery,

N e w York

Using Walls (Indoors),

T h e Jewish Museum,

N e w York (cat.)

Artists and Photographs,

Mult iples Gal len ' , N e w York

(cat. wi th essay by Lawrence

Alloway)

1968

Language II, D w a n Gallery

1967

Monuments, Tombstones

and Trophies, Museum of

Contemporary Crafts,

N e w York

Alberro, Alexander. " M e l Bochner:

Thought Made Visible 1966-

1973." Artforum 34, no. 6

(February 1996), pp. 80-81.

Boice, Bruce. "The A x i o m of

Indifference." Arts Magazine

no. 6 (April 1973), pp. 66—68.

Bochner, M e l . Spéculations: Ecrits,

196$- 197$. Eds. Christophe

Cherix and Valérie Mavridorakis.

Trans. Thierrv Dubois . Musée

d'Art Moderne et Contemporain,

Geneva, 2003.

Borden, Lizzie. "New York Reviews:

M e l Bochner, Sonnabend

Gallen,'." Artforum 10, no. 8

(April 1972), pp. 83-85.

Cherix, Christophe, Laurent Jenny,

and James Meyer. Mel

Bochner: Working Drawings

and Other Visible Things on

Paper Not Necessarily Meant

to Be Viewed as Art. Cabinet

des Estampes du Musée d 'Art

et d 'Histoire, 1997.

Danto , Ar thur C . "Introduction."

In On Certainty, bv l .udwig

Wittgenstein. Eds. G . E . M .

Anscombe and G . H . von

Wright. Trans. Denis Paul and

G . E. M . Anscombe. A r i o n

Press, 1991.

de Bruvn , Eric . "Alfaville, or the

Utopies o f M e l Bochner."

Grey Room, no. 10 (Winter

2003), pp. 76—111.

Kal ina , Richard. "Measure for

Measure." Art in America 84,

no. 9 (Sept. 1996), pp. 88-93.

" H o w C a n You Defend M a k i n g

Paintings Now? A Conversation

between Me l Bochner and

James Meyer." In As Painting:

Division and DispLicement.

Wexner Center for the Arts,

O h i o State University,

Columbus, 2001.

"language Faetón" M e l Bochner

talks to Mark Godfrey about

words, portraits, Roget's

Thesaurus, color, Jorge Luis

Borges, humour, nostalgia

and political engagement."

FriezeSj (Nov./Dec. 2004),

pp. 102-05.

Lubel l , FJlen. "Gallery Reviews:

M e l Bochner Sonnabend

D o w n t o w n . " Arts Magazine

47, no. 5 (March 1973), p. 77.

Pincus-Wit ten , Robert. "The

Constant as Variable."

Artforum 11, no. 4 (December

1972), pp- 28-34.

Smith, Roberta. New York Times,

June 16, 2006, p. E33.

Zelevansky, L y n n . "Beyond

Geometry: Objects, Systems,

Concepts." In Beyond

Geometry: Experiments in Form

t940s—-,os, Los Angeles

County Museum of Art , 2004,

PP- 9-33-

Weiss, Jeffrey. "Language in the

V i c i n i t y o f Art : Artists

Writ ings, i960—1975."

Artforum 42, no. 10 (Summer

2004), pp. 212—17.

Unless otherwise noted, all works

are in the collection of the artist.

* 1966

Ink on graph paper: 8 7 x 11 in .

Cause and Effect, 1966

Ink on graph paper; d.: 5 ~h i n .

The Domain of the Great Bear, 1966

Published in Art Voices, Fall 1966

Facsimile of magazine pages; 12 7=

x 9 7* in .

Ryerson and Burnham Libraries,

gift of the artist

Maximum/Minimum, 1966

Ink on two sheets of lined paper:

each 7 /> x 5 in .

Col lec t ion of M r . and M r s . Frank

Preuss, Hamburg , Germany

Minimal Art—The Movie, 1966

Ink and pencil on notebook paper;

6x3 '/• in .

Portrait of Ad Reinhardt, 1966

Ink on graph paper; 10 7« x 3 7* in .

Portrait of Dan Flavin, 1966

Ink on graph paper (cut out); 4 'A

x 8 7: in .

Portrait of Donald Judd, 1966

Ink on paper; 5 '/* x 6 7" i n .

Portrait of Eva Hesse, 1966

Ink on graph paper; d.: 4 7« i n .

Portrait of Robert Smithson, [966

Ink on graph paper; 7 7* x 6 in .

Portrait of Sol LeWitt, 1966

Ink on graph paper; 5'Ax 5 'A i n .

WORK IN THE EXHIBITION

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Notecard (No thought exists... ), 1969. C o l l e c t i o n ot the artist.

Self!Portrait, 1966

Ink on graph paper; 5 V* x 5 7* in .

Private collection. N e w York

Working Drawings and Other Visible

Things on Paper Not Necessarily

Meant to Be Viewed as Art, 1966

Four identical looseleaf notebooks,

each with 100 xerox copies ot studio

notes, working drawings, and

diagrams collected and xeroxed bv

the artist

Beach Boys—100%, 1967

Published in Arts Magazine,

March 1967

Facsimile o f magazine pages; 12 7*

x 9 V"- in .

Rverson and Burnham Libraries,

gift of the artist

Four Comments Concerning:

Photograph-Blocks, 1967

Photograph mounted on board;

12 x 12 in .

Four Rows, 1967

Self-adhesive plastic on board; 14 7

x 11 74 in .

Letter Piece (for Dwan Exhibition),

1967-

Typewritten letter and envelope; 11

x 8 'I- in . , envelope: 4 7« x 9 7» i n .

Alfaville, Godard s Apocalypse, 1968

Published in Arts Magazine,

M a y 1968

Facsimile of magazine pages;

12 7«x 97'* in .

Ryerson and Burnham Libraries,

gift of the artist

Jasper's Dilemma (2), 1968

Ink and pencil on graph paper;

9 V« x 7V1 in .

Portrait of Marcel Duchamp, 1968

Ink on graph paper; 11 x 8'A i n .

Study for Imagine the Enclosed Area

Blue, 1969

Ink and colored pencil on paper;

6 'A x 7 74 i n .

Language Is Not Transparent, 1969

Rubber stamp on four sheets o f

paper; each 6{/*\ 7 '/* in .

Notecards (Fragmentation...),

( The distance bettveen... ), (Theory

of Boundaries... ), (No thought

exists...), ( The surface as support... ),

(Imagine an infinitesimal...),

(Background is neither...), (If we

could imagine... ), (Language is

always...), (Relations can become... ),

(Forgetting is the only...),

(Functional breakdown...), 1969

Ink on 12 notecards; each 5 x 8 in .

Photography Cannot Record Abstract

Ideas, 1969

Silver dye-bleach print; 16 x 20 in .

Study for Prepositional Sculptures,

1969

Ink on graph paper; 11x8 '/» i n .

Prepositional Sculpture, 1969

W o o d , self-adhesive v inyl , and tape

on floor; 48 x 156 x 4 in .

Courtesy o f the artist and

Peter Freeman, Inc.

Language Is Not Transparent, 1970

Cha lk on paint on wall ; 72 x 48 in .

Los Angeles C o u n t y Museum ot

Ar t , Modern and Contemporary

Ar t C o u n c i l

Misunderstandings (A Theory of

Photography), 1970

Photo offset on 10 notecards,

manila envelope; each card 5 x 8 in .

Theory of Boundaries, 1970

Cha lk on drv pigment on wall ;

dimensions determined bv

installation

National Gallery ot Ar t ,

Washington, D . C .

7 Properties of Between, 1971

Ink on paper; 11x8'/•• in .

Theory of Syntax (1st Version), 1971

Ink on paper; 6'A x 7 7< in .

Col lec t ion o f Barrv Le Va

Translation, 1971

Ink on graph paper; 16 x 20 in .

An Ultimate Project for Sol LeWitt,

1971

Ink on paper; approx. 12 x 8 7* in .

The LeWi t t Col lec t ion , Chester.

C o n n .

Axiom of Indifference, 1973

Ink on spiral notebook paper;

11 x 14 in .

Axiom of Indifference, 1973

Ink on masking tape and pennies

on floor; each square 12 x 12 in.

The Museum of Modern Ar t , N e w

York, Commit tee on Painting and

Sculpture Funds

Left/Right/Right/Left, 1973

Ink on paper; 11 \S'l- in .

Private collection, N e w York

The Wittgenstein Illustrations, 1991

12 line photo engravings; 20 x 15 i n .

Col lec t ion o f Suzanne F. Cohen ,

Baltimore

Quotation Piece: "Nothing we do— "

1995

Two sheets o f oi l newspaper;

44 x 27 'I* i n .

Private collection. N e w York

If the Color Changes (#2), 1997

O i l on canvas; 36 x 48 in.

Courtesy o f the artist and

Peter Freeman, Inc.

If the Color Changes (#6), 1998

O i l on canvas; 36 x 48 in.

You Can Call It That If You Like,

2001

Charcoal on two sheets o f paper;

4 4 \ JO in .

Courtesy o f the artist and

Peter Freeman, Inc.

You Can Call It That If You Like

(#2), 2001

Charcoal on two sheets of paper,

44 x 30 in .

Courtesy o f the artist and

Peter Freeman, Inc.

Meaningless, 2003

O i l and acrylic on canvas;

45 x 60 in .

Nothing, 2 0 0 4

O i l on canvas; 4s x 60 in .

Col lec t ion o f Ji l l and Peter Kraus

Useless, 2005

O i l and acrvlic on canvas;

60 x 80 in .

Col lec t ion o f Betty and Edward

Harris

And/If/Or/But, 2006

Acryl ic on four canvases,

each 40 x 30 in.

Courtesy o f the artist and

Peter Freeman, Inc.

Obscene, 2006

O i l and acrylic on canvas;

60 x 80 in .

Money/Obscene, 2006

O i l on velvet; 74 x 47 in .

Courtesy Two Palms Press

N i c k Bar ron , Stephanie Bar ron . Sienna

B r o w n , Joseph C o c h a n d , Janet C o h e n ,

Suzanne C o h e n , C h r i s t i n e C o n n i t t -

O ' S h e a , Jav C la rke , James C u n o ,

Lisa D o r i n . Douglas D r u i c k , J o h n

Elderf ield, Jaune Fvans, Peter Freeman.

Jennv G h e i t h . Sarah Guernscv. Bettv

and E d w a r d Harr is , E r i n H o g a n ,

K a n o i K e i t h , l o i s Kel ly , Jud i th Russi

Kirshner , N icho la s K n i g h t , D a w n

Koster, Ii l l and Peter Kraus, leanne

Ladd , A l i s o n Langley, J . Patrick Lannan ,

Evie Lasrv, C h a i Lee, Barrv L e V a ,

Sol and C a r o l L e W i t t , James Mever ,

Alfred L M c D o u g a l and N a n c y Lauter

M c D o u g a l , Jud i th Neisser, Jeffrey

N i g r o , M a r k Pascale. Janet Passehl, G a i l

Pearson, M a r y M . Plauché, M r . and

M r s . Frank Preuss, Maureen Pskowski ,

Dehra Purden . Jud i th Racht . Rae Riffel ,

Susan Rossen. Su/.ie Schnepp, D o r o t h v

Schroeder. Irene Snead, I rv ing Stenn,

Jr., El izaheth Stepina, Harr ie t Stratis,

l i m Szvskowski , Jeftrev Weiss, and Jeff

W o n d e r l a n d . Special thanks to the artist.

This exh ib i t i on is m a d e poss ib le by

a g i f t f r o m J u d i t h Racht and I rv ing

S tenn , Jr., w i t h addi t ional f und ing and

suppor t p rov ided by J u d i t h Neisser.

O n g o i n g s u p p o r t fo r focus exh ib i t i ons

is p rov ided by The A l f red L. McDouga l

and Nancy Lauter M c D o u g a l Fund fo r

C o n t e m p o r a r y Ar t .

The a c c o m p a n y i n g ca ta logue and

academic s y m p o s i u m are gene rous l y

f u n d e d by the C o m m u n i t y Assoc ia tes

of the Ar t Inst i tu te of Ch icago ,

Lannan F o u n d a t i o n , and Na than and

Suzanne Cohen F o u n d a t i o n , Inc.

OPENING EVENTS AND

ARTIST TALK

T H U R S D A Y 5 O C T O B E R

E X H I B I T I O N P R E V I E W

5:30—8:00 p .m.

Gallery 138-139

C O N V E R S A T I O N W I T H

T H E A R T I S T A N D J A M E S

M E Y E R , A S S O C I A T E P R O F E S S O R

O F A R T H I S T O R Y , E M O R Y

U N I V E R S I T Y , A T L A N T A

6:00 p .m.

Fullerton H a l l

O P E N I N G R E C E P T I O N

7:00 p .m.

Jean and Steven G o l d m a n

Study Center

Department o f Prints and Drawings

SYMPOSIUM

F R I D A Y 6 O C T O B E R

Fullerton H a l l

Organized in collaboration wi th

James Meyer and Judith Russi

Kirshner, Dean, College o f

Ar t and Design, University o f

Illinois, Chicago

GALLERY TALKS

F R I D A Y 13 O C T O B E R

12:00 p .m.

Frances and Thomas Di t tmer

Cura tor o f Contemporary A r t

James Rondeau

Gal lery 100

T U E S D A Y 7 N O V E M B E R

12:00 p .m.

Assistant Curator o f

Contemporary A r t Lisa D o r i n

Gal lery 100

F R I D A Y 15 D E C E M B E R

12:00 p .m.

Associate Cura tor o f Prints and

Drawings M a r k Pascale

Gallery 100

C O V E R : Nothing, 2004 (detail).

C o l l e c t i o n o f J i l l and Peter Kraus .

B A C K C O V E R : Obscene, 2006 (detail).

C o l l e c t i o n o f the artist.

JAMES RONDAU

FRANCES AND THOMAS DITMER

CURATR OF CONTEMPORARY ART