Brian O'Doherty (1928–2022)
We mourn the death of one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
Brian O'Doherty, who belonged to the first generation of conceptual artists, gained international fame as the author of essays dealing with the "White Cube" that appeared in Artforum magazine in 1976. In his writings O'Doherty describes the rise of the white-walled, empty exhibition space that, as he would later observe, is not the same everywhere, however, as people bring themselves, the local culture and also their own stories into any exhibition. In order to expand his own creative sphere, and to protect his oeuvre from a primarily biographical reception, the Irish-American artist, art critic and writer Brian O'Doherty operated under a variety of pseudonyms. This open self-image and perception of his role paved the way for the great breadth of his work and is of great timely importance.
Brian O'Doherty passed away in his New York studio apartment on 7 November. We would like to thank Brian O'Doherty for the trust he showed us preparing the exhibition "In the Context of the Collection: Brian O'Doherty. Phases of the Self" and for the joy he shared with us about this show. We mourn a kind person and friend. Our thoughts are with his wife Barbara Novak and his family.
Roman Kurzmeyer, curator of the exhibition
and the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein team
The show centres on his open self-image and role perception as an individual and as an artist, which he developed in a dialogue with contemporary artists. O'Doherty assumed different roles, working under various pseudonyms in order to broaden his field of action. On view is a selection of his early conceptual artworks along with books and magazines from his work as an art critic and writer. It was O'Doherty who coined the term 'white cube' to describe that supposedly neutral gallery or museum space that emerged before his eyes in New York.
In dialogue with works from the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein collection, the exhibition aims to show how O'Doherty's oeuvre is embedded in and reflects and comments on the artistic, art critical and literary practices of our times.
With works by
Saâdane Afif, Paweł Althamer, Denise Bellon, Walter Benjamin, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Marcel Broodthaers, Joseph Cornell, Marcel Duchamp, Latifa Echakhch, General Idea, Louise Guerra, Patrick Ireland, Kimsooja, Matts Leiderstam, Sol LeWitt, Marisa Merz, Charlotte Moth, Sonja Sekula, Erik Steinbrecher, Jacques Villon (Gaston Duchamp)
A production of Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, curated by Roman Kurzmeyer.