Lot Essay
A pioneer of Conceptual and installation art, Joseph Kosuth is known for initiating language based works and appropriation strategies in the 1960s. His work has consistently explored the production and role of language and meaning within art. His nearly forty year inquiry into the relation of art and language has taken the form of installations, museum exhibitions, public commissions and publications throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia, including Documenta V, VI, VII and IX (1972, 1978, 1982, 1992) and four Venice Biennials (1976, 1993, 1999 and 2007). Awards include the Brandeis Award (1990), the Frederick Weisman Award (1991), the Menzione d'Onore at the Venice Biennial (1993), the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1993) and the Golden Cross, the Austrian Republic's highest honor for accomplishments in science and culture (2003). Recent solo exhibitions include: Neither Appearance nor Illusion, A Selection of Early Works from the 1960's by Joseph Kosuth, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York (2008); Joseph Kosuth: The Language of Equilibrium, Venice Biennial, Venice (2007); Joseph Kosuth, Castello di Rivoli, Torino (2006); Joseph Kosuth, Sprüth Magers Lee, London (2006); James McNeill Whistler, Bernard Berenson and Isabella Stewart Gardner: Three Locations in the Creative Process, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston (2003); Re-defining the Context of Art: 1968-2004, The Second Investigation and Public Media, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2004); and Terra Ultra Incognita, Centro Atlntico de Arte Moderno, San Antonio Abad, Casa de Coln, El Museo Canario, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain (2007).