Lawrence Weiner (born in the Bronx, New York, February 10, 1942) is a key conceptual artist whose primary medium is language. After graduating from high school, Weiner traveled extensively, working as an oil tanker, on docks and various other odd jobs. Upon his return to New York, Weiner produced a body of work experimenting with shaped canvases, which were first exhibited at the Seth Siegelaub Gallery. Weiner’s later installations consist of typographic texts and messages which strive to be as concise and clear as possible. The directness of Weiner’s language and nonspecific nature of his … (read more)

Lawrence Weiner (born in the Bronx, New York, February 10, 1942) is a key conceptual artist whose primary medium is language. After graduating from high school, Weiner traveled extensively, working as an oil tanker, on docks and various other odd jobs. Upon his return to New York, Weiner produced a body of work experimenting with shaped canvases, which were first exhibited at the Seth Siegelaub Gallery. Weiner’s later installations consist of typographic texts and messages which strive to be as concise and clear as possible. The directness of Weiner’s language and nonspecific nature of his message is a deliberate attempt to broaden the possibility of interpretation for the viewer. Throughout his career, Weiner has remained a firm believer that reception of an artwork is what completes it. Like other Conceptual artists, the idea behind the work is central; the actual artwork merely a vehicle with which to express it. In utilizing text, Weiner also fundamentally rejects materiality, seeking instead to relate experiences and sensations, via language, to the viewer.

The universal appeal and adaptability of Weiner’s career, which spans more than forty years, makes his work as relevant today as it was at the height of the Conceptual Art movement. “I want to be able to be engaged in my existence,” explained Weiner. “And at the same time I want the work that I’m doing to be informed by my contemporary existence, my existence now.” Whether this existence is confined by linguistic constructs, based on the aesthetic reception of form, or whether it lies within associations or memories psychically stirred, is something Weiner lets the viewer decide. Weiner lives and works in New York and Amsterdam.

Watch a short video of Lawrence Weiner at work:

Watch an Artist Talk from 2009, featuring Lawrence Weiner at NICC in Antwerp, Belgium:

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