LAWRENCE WEINER

(New York, USA, 1942)

Lawrence Weiner is an American artist and was a leading figure in the Conceptual Art movement of the 1960s. Weiner studied for a short period at Hunter College in New York before dropping out and traveling around the country. Known for his text-based work, Weiner created subversive installations that altered existing spaces or environments. His first work, Declaration of Intent (1968), provides an ironic critique of the nature of art by questioning the roles of the artist and the work itself. Weiner, however, considers himself a sculptor rather than a conceptual artist, by virtue of his viewing language as a building material. His works are present in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Centre G. Pompidou in Paris, and the Tate Modern in London, among others.