Joseph Kosuth

One of the most prolific pioneers of Conceptual Art of the 1960s, Joseph Kosuth’s text-based installations have consistently interrogated the role that language takes in the production of art and our understanding of meaning. Born in 1945 in Toledo, Ohio, Kosuth pursued an education at the School of Visual Arts in New York and studied philosophical anthropology and philosophy at the Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social Research, in New York.

Based on this deep-rooted understanding of philosophy, Kosuth creates conceptual artworks that question the way that the human experience interacts with language, taking particular inspiration from philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. A central medium in his practice is neon, referencing all the neon public signage but also the previous usages in fine art, that become a neutral vessel through which Kosuth sheds a spotlight solely on the written text it displays. Sharply contrasting the work’s verbal content with its formal capacity, the artist dismantles the barriers between content and the pictorial and raises critical questions about communication and association.

Further testament to Joseph Kosuth’s intellectual rigor, he has been the recipient of numerous awards and decorations such as the Menzione d’Onore at the 45th Venice Biennale and a Medal of Honor from The National Arts Club in 2022. He has been the subject of solo exhibitions at prominent institutions such as the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, the Jewish Museum, New York, the Louvre, Paris, among others. His works are housed in museums including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., and Tate, London.