Conceptual Artists' Books

What makes a book?

Several of the books classified as “conceptual artists’ books” were created by artists involved in the Conceptual Art movement. This movement was rooted in the notion that the essence of art is an idea, or concept, and that it may exist separately from, and in the absence of, an object as its representation. The artist’sbook was, in turn, integral to the development of Conceptual Art.

Conceptual artists’ books can be used as vehicles for messages. While it is necessary for form and function to be unified in successful artists’ books, sometimes one quality overrides another. In these books, aesthetics are sometimes subverted and become secondary to the concepts conveyed. These books tell stories. They are narratives of bodies, imprints of towns, streetscapes and individual buildings. They have messages, but remain open to interpretations.


Every Building on the Sunset Strip

Every Building on the Sunset Strip

Edward Ruscha. Every Building on the Sunset Strip. [Los Angeles: publisher not identified], 1966.

Ficciones

Ficciones

Jorge Luis Borges; silk-screens by Sol LeWitt. Ficciones. New York: Limited Editions Club, c1984.

Walls Paper

Walls Paper

Gordon Matta-Clark. Walls Paper. New York: Buffalo Press, 1973.

Brown and Green and Other Parables

Brown and Green and Other Parables

John Baldessari. Brown and Green and Other Parables. [Reykjavik: I8, in cooperation with the Reykjavik Art Museum, 2001].

Les seins miraculeux, from Visionaire 55: Surprise

Les seins miraculeux

Sophie Calle, with art by Steven Meisel. [v. 4]. Les seins miraculeux, from Visionaire 55: Surprise. New York: Visionaire, 2008.

A Box of Smile Y.O. ’71

A Box of Smile Y.O. '71

Yōko Ono. A Box of Smile Y.O. ’71. New York: Fluxus, 1984, ©1971.

Biography

Biography

Sarah Bryant. Biography. Aurora, NY: Big Jump Press, 2010.