Duke University Press Art & Language International: Conceptual Art between Art Worlds

In Art & Language International Robert Bailey reconstructs the history of the conceptual art collective Art & Language, situating it in a geographical context to rethink its implications for the broader histories of contemporary art. Focusing on its international collaborations with dozens of artists and critics in and outside the collective between 1969 and 1977, Bailey positions Art & Language at the center of a historical shift from Euro-American modernism to a global contemporary art. He documents the collective’s growth and reach, from transatlantic discussions on the nature of conceptual art and the establishment of distinct working groups in New York and England to the collective’s later work in Australia, New Zealand, and Yugoslavia. Bailey also details its publications, associations with political organizations, and the internal power struggles that precipitated its breakdown. Analyzing a wide range of artworks, texts, music, and films, he reveals how Art & Language navigated between art worlds to shape the international profile of conceptual art. Above all, Bailey underscores how the group's rigorous and interdisciplinary work provides a gateway to understanding how conceptual art operates as a mode of thinking that exceeds the visual to shape the philosophical, historical, and political. Review "This is a substantial contribution to the now ample literature on conceptual art...well written, presenting complex theoretical arguments in a clear and accessible way, and grounded in fact with extensive references to archival material and primary source publications." Author: Gustavo Grandal Montero Source: ARLIS-NA "[D]ue to Bailey’s extensive archival research and critical rereadings, [this book] is the most comprehensive account of Art & Language’s international context to date."  Author: Louisa Lee Source: The Burlington Magazine Review "Robert Bailey takes us on a search for that ever-elusive postmodern ideal—the space 'between' or dream of an intermedium not accountable to modernism’s twin urges for immediacy and futurity—that gave rise to Art & Language’s rolodexes, indices, 'blurts,' and 'community practices.' In our own moment still smitten with, on the one hand, relational aesthetics, para- or mockstitutions, and social practice art, and, on the other, occupations, assemblies, and the world of 'things,' Bailey's archaeology of that dream of a 'between' still with us after all these years makes for vital foundational reading." Author: Blake Stimson, author of Source: Citizen Warhol From the Author Robert Bailey is Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Oklahoma. About the Author Robert Bailey is Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Oklahoma.