Lawrence Weiner

Lawrence Weiner played a pivotal role in shaping conceptual art during the 1960s. His artistic expressions frequently manifested in the form of typographic texts, representing a unique form of word art.

Biography of Lawrence Weiner

Lawrence Weiner was born in 1942 in New York, USA. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School at the age of 16, he explored various occupations, including working on an oil tanker, handling duties on docks, and unloading railroad cars. He briefly studied philosophy and literature at Hunter College for less than a year before embarking on a journey across North America, eventually returning to New York.

Weiner began his artistic journey at a young age during the pinnacle of Abstract Expressionism. His inaugural public work/exhibition occurred at the age of 19, featuring what he termed "Cratering Piece."

Throughout the early 1960s, his endeavors included six years dedicated to producing explosions in California's landscape to fashion craters as distinct sculptures.

In 1968, Weiner authored his first book, "Statements," a compact 64-page paperback containing descriptions of his projects. Published by The Louis Kellner Foundation and Seth Siegelaub, "Statements" is regarded as one of the seminal artist's books of the conceptual art era.

He contributed to documenta 5, 6, 7, and 13; the 36th, 41st, 50th, and 55th Venice Biennales in Italy); and the 27th Biennale de Sao Paulo in Brazil. Throughout his illustrious career, he received numerous accolades, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1976, 1983), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1994), the Wolfgang Hahn Prize at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne (1995). He also received the Roswitha Haftmann Foundation Prize (2015), the Wolf Prize, and the Aspen Award for Art in 2017.

Solo exhibitions of Lawrence Weiner's works include "The Language of Lawrence Weiner" at the Arsenale Institute for Politics of Representation in Venezia (2022), "Lawrence Weiner: OUT OF SIGHT" at in Switzerland (2022), "LAWRENCE WEINER" at Galerie Thomas Schulte in Berlin (2021), "BROUGHT DOWN TO JUST BELOW" at Kode Kunstmuseer in Bergen (2020), and many more. 

Weiner passed away on December 2, 2021, in Manhattan, at the age of 79.