Tony Godfrey's Conceptual Art Book Published by Phaidon

Tony Godfrey, lecturer in contemporary art at Sotheby's Institute in London, has authored a book on conceptual art published by Éditions Phaidon. The work aims to provide a broader view of conceptual art, moving beyond usual divisions. Godfrey identifies the peak of conceptual art between 1966 and 1972. The book is structured as a historical and chronological introduction rather than a debate. It avoids excessive lists of names, focusing instead on major protagonists and significant works. The text explores questions about what conceptual art is—ready-made, intervention, documentation, discourse—and references Sol LeWitt's idea that conceptual art questions the foundations of the concept of art, emphasizing a reflective consciousness on representation rather than the object itself. Artists have played with this 'what is' by alternately challenging and reappropriating art's discourse on art. The book suggests conceptual artists followed two main directions: formalist, devoted to minimalism of idealist essence, and another. It notes the radical critique underpinned by the primacy of language over visual experience, and questions the political weight of speculative art that sought to escape economic and aesthetic controls. The book concludes that this turbulent artistic zone has continued to influence contemporary creation, sometimes leading to repetitions among followers. The review was written by Raya Baudinet.