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The Philippe Méaille Collection stands out as a remarkable representation of one the most complex and belligerent practices of the second half of the twentieth century. Largely associated with Conceptual Art, Art & Language challenges the existing vocabulary of art history by refusing affiliation to any artistic identity. Since the mid sixties Art & Language’s initial development was based on assimilating critical and dissenting practices that relied on a discursive, conversational and language-based perspective that continues through to the present. In that sense, the works by Art & Language the Philippe Méaille Collection may come across as a contingent history of the collective, yet this is the most adequate form of encapsulating what is often referred as a ‘radically uncompleted, radically inconclusive’ practice.

Many individuals have been associated with Art & Language. They include Terry Atkinson, David Bainbridge, Michael Baldwin, Ian Burn, Charles Harrison, Joseph Kosuth, Philip Pilkington, Mel Ramsden and Dave Rushton. Since 1977, the practice of Art & Language has been in the hands of Baldwin and Ramsden, becoming self-observing and indeed essayistic. Whereas the publication Art-Language provided an access to the multi-theoretical field in which Art & Language evolved through the sixties, seventies and eighties, allowing their readers to become empowered, the most recent positions adopted by the artists contaminate the perception of their own collective past. In turn, the Philippe Méaille Collection is further affected by the archaeological perspective with which the Collection was assembled. Many of the works can be found in the form of card files, manuscripts, typescripts, layouts and final prints. All in all Art & Language remains a contested space, with no privileged point of view to describe its achievements.

Méaille’s consistent recollection and gathering of early works by Art & Language gives us full access to a fascinating period in which the analytical philosophy, that of language and of scientific knowledge provided the tools to dismantle the notion of art and art object. These early works include many not seen since their first exhibitions: Paintings (1966), Frameworks (1966–67), Study for the Air-Conditioning Show (1967) recently installed at the Hayward Gallery in London and at the Pompidou Centre, Guaranteed Paintings (1967), Secret Paintings (1967–68) and 100% Abstract (1968). In parallel, the Collection of Philippe Méaille has accumulated a vast number of documents that track the massive discursive output that has characterised Art & Language since its inception.

The exhibition will feature an extensive selection of works by Art & Language from the Philippe Méaille Collection and will be accompanied by a publication, with essays by Carles Guerra and Matthew Jesse Jackson, and an interview with Michael Baldwin, Mel Ramsden and Philippe Méaille.

Opening: 18 September 2014. Curator: Carles Guerra. Organisation and production: Exhibition organised by the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona and co-produced with the Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris. Sponsored by Fundación AXA.

Exhibition sponsors:
Logo Fundación AXA
With the support of:
British council

Related

Activities

Videos

Images

Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages 8 and 9
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages 16 and 17
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages 34 and 35
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  40 and 41
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  58 and 59
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  68 and 69
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  72 and 73
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  74 and 75
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  76 and 77
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  78 and 79
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  88 and 89
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  104 and 105
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  108 and 109
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  116 and 117
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  130 and 131
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  132 and 133
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  140 and 141
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  146 and 147
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  146 and 147
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  156 and 157
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages  180 and 181
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages 184 and 185
Selection from the catalogue 'Art & Language. Uncompleted', pages 194 and 195
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica
'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet' exhibiton views, 2014. Photo:  EOS-AF, Estudi Orpinell & Sánchez -- Artesania Fotogràfica

Audios

Guided tour to the 'ART & LANGUAGE Incomplet. The Philippe Méaille Collection' exhibition (in Catalan)
Son[i]a #124. Michael Baldwin and Mel Ramsden on Art & Language
07.04.2011

Publications