Keith Arnatt

Keith Arnatt (1930 – 2008) was a pioneering conceptual artist and later a pioneering photographer.[1] Writing in the British Journal of Photography in 2014, Brennavan Sritharan claimed "Arnatt has a case for being one of the most influential British artists and photographers of his generation, pushing the boundaries of his mediums and going on to be a chief influence on the likes of Martin Parr and Paul Graham. ... In his lifetime, Arnatt’s reputation waxed and waned, but in recent years the enormous value and innovation in his work has become clear."[2]

Conceptual art

Arnatt's work is referred to by the art historian Charles Townsend Harrison as " ... developing during the mid '60s from a concern with Minimal paintings and sculptures posing gestalt problems, through involvement with elements of behaviour and performance to works often sited out of doors involving suspension or interruption of the spectator's expectations."[3]

Arnatt's works, associated with conceptual art[4][5] came to prominence in the late 1960s. A number of works from this period, including Self-Burial (Television Interference Project) (1969) and Trouser-Word Piece (1972-89 version) are in the Tate collection.[6][7]

Arnatt took part in a number of influential exhibitions of conceptual art including 'Konzeption-Conception, Städtichen Museum, Leverkusen', 1969; 'Information', Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1970; 'Umwelt-Akzente / Die Expansion der Kunst', Kunstkreis Monschau, 1970 and 'Art as Idea in England', CAYC (Centro de Arte y Comunicación), Buenos Aires, 1971.

Photographic Series

In the 1970s and 1980s he produced photographic series in black and white and colour. Series such as The Visitors (1974-6), Walking the Dog (1976-9), Gardeners (1978-9) and later colour series[8] such as Miss Grace's Lane (1986-7) combine his early interest in typologies, portraiture and landscape. These and later works were the subject of his retrospective at The Photographers' Gallery in 1989.

It should also be noticed that Arnatt, consistent with his earlier deflating use of ‘artist’, only ever ironically referred to himself as a photographer.[9]

References

  1. ↑ O'Hagan, Sean (27 August 2015). "Keith Arnatt is proof that the art world doesn't consider photography 'real' art". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Sritharan, Brennavan (4 September 2015). "Keith Arnatt: the conceptual photographer who influenced a generation". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. ↑ 'Art as Idea', Victoria and Albert Museum, 1970
  4. ↑ "Six Years,The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972", Lucy Lippard
  5. ↑ "In & Out of Amsterdam: Travels in Conceptual Art", 1960-1976, Cristoph Cherix
  6. ↑ "Self-Burial (Television Interference Project) 1969" Tate
  7. ↑ "Trouser-Word Piece (1972-89 version)" Tate
  8. ↑ "Keith Arnatt, Miss Grace's Lane, Tate".
  9. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/keith-arnatt-used-humour-to-explore-the-notion-of-the-invisibility-of-the-artist-10476766.html

External links


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