Collection 1940s–1970s

415

Idea Art

Fall 2019–Fall 2021

MoMA

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Hannah Wilke. Hannah Wilke Through the Large Glass. 1976. 16mm film transferred to video (color, silent), 10 min. Acquired through the generosity of Courtney Plummer. © 2020 Marsie, Emanuelle, Damon and Andrew Scharlatt - Hannah Wilke Collection and Archive, Los Angeles. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York
  • MoMA, Floor 4, 415 The David Geffen Galleries

“The idea becomes the machine that makes the art,” wrote Sol LeWitt in 1967. This metaphor describes a concept shared among many international artists, filmmakers, performers, and composers: that the idea was the work of art. Sometimes, the artists in this gallery realized their theories by creating objects. At other times, they documented ephemeral actions in photographs or on video. In still other instances, they made language their subject, producing multiples, publications, posters, and postcards intended to circulate to a mass audience. By emphasizing the context surrounding the creation of the work, these artists addressed various social issues, such as inequality, and race and gender politics.

26 works online

Artists

Installation images

How we identified these works

In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].

Licensing

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit https://www.moma.org/research-and-learning/circulating-film.

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