Conceptual art: its purpose is to convey the idea of an artist

Conceptual art is a modernist form of artistic expression in which specific concepts or ideas (usually personal (occurring in the artist's mind) and complex ones) take the form of abstract, inappropriate images based on the rejection of aesthetic principles. According to the definition of the pioneer of this trend, American artist Sol Le Witte, in conceptualism, the idea or concept (concept) is the most important aspect of the work. This means that the decision is made in advance, and its implementation is just a formality. The idea turns into a mechanism.

Generally speaking, conceptual art is a combination of different trends, rather than a closely related movement. And has many forms (among them: installations, performances, happenings, ephemera). It was born in the first half of the twentieth century not as an artistic direction, but as a definite philosophy, which casts doubt on the meaning of art itself. Dadaist Maurice Duchamp, who introduced a new artistic practice, argued that the idea of a work is more important than its physical representation. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, conceptual artists created works that completely rejected traditional art ideas: aesthetics, expressiveness, mastery (including compliance with market requirements).

Nevertheless, it is important to understand that conceptual art developed in a sequence of avant-garde movements (cubism, abstract expressionism and the like), which succeeded in significantly expanding the boundaries of the very notion of art. Conceptualists (in the strict sense) are the finalists of the avant-garde tradition. In truth, it does not matter whether this extremely complex intellectual view fits the subjective notions of what art should be, because the fact remains. Some works of conceptualists are perceived by museums, collectors, art dealers as masterpieces of world art.

Borrowing various methods (such as minimalism), the conceptual artists sought to rethink the forms of pop art that did not rest on the theoretical foundations of art. Those who were strongly influenced by the above-mentioned minimalism (its simplicity), they at the same time categorically rejected his concepts, which were embodied in sculpture or painting, characteristic of perceptual or "perceived" art (it is created primarily for visual perception). In relation to it, the "conceptual" pursues entirely different goals. The ancient art of Egypt, expressing ideas very subjectively and extremely symbolically, can serve to some extent as an association to it. The idea, according to artists, can take shape in any physical form. The relationship between the artist, who uses all available elements of expression, his work and the audience is absolutely transformed.

Conceptual art is not just a description of nature in all its diversity. The artist expresses his attitude to social, political, technological things and processes. In many cases, the viewer and the artist himself become an integral part of this art and its basic concepts. Beginning as a movement among the many art tendencies of the sixties, conceived to demonstrate the priority of the artist's idea, today it is viewed in the aggregate (as an aesthetic point of view of conceptualism), exerting a great influence on modern ways of artistic expression.