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TAKEN FROM HERE TO WHERE IT CAME FROM AND TAKEN TO A PLACE AND USED IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT CAN ONLY REMAIN AS A REPRESENTATION OF WHAT IT WAS WHERE IT CAME FROM
TAKEN FROM HERE TO WHERE IT CAME FROM AND TAKEN TO A PLACE AND USED IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT CAN ONLY REMAIN AS A REPRESENTATION OF WHAT IT WAS WHERE IT CAME FROM
Date:
1980
Artist:
Lawrence Weiner American, 1942-2021
About this artwork
Lawrence Weiner established himself as one of the leading figures in the Conceptual Art Movement during the late 1960s by creating works that challenge traditional assumptions about the nature of the art object. Using language as his medium, Weiner set out to question the conventional relationship between artist and viewer and to redefine standard systems of artistic display and distribution. In 1968 he issued a statement of intent, outlining the three conditions in which his works could exist: they could be built by him; fabricated by someone else; or not constructed at all. His works have the potential for being realized in countless ways and contexts; they may be shown outdoors as a public project, published in a book, printed on a matchbook cover, or simply spoken. He is best known, however, for written phrases presented on gallery or museum walls, typically in stenciled or vinyl lettering. Weiner felt the permanence and integrity of a linguistic construction, presented as a title in the form of a simple descriptive phrase on the wall, was less vulnerable to change over time than an actual sculpture. This work—which describes a physical act of displacement as a metaphor for representation—and its title are one and the same.
TAKEN FROM HERE TO WHERE IT CAME FROM AND TAKEN TO A PLACE AND USED IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT CAN ONLY REMAIN AS A REPRESENTATION OF WHAT IT WAS WHERE IT CAME FROM
Place
United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date
Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.
Lawrence Weiner, Sculpture, exh. cat. (Paris: Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1985), n.p.
Lawrence Weiner, Lawrence Weiner: werken vanaf het begin van de jaren zestig tot aan het einde van de jaren tachtig = works from the beginning of the sixties towards the end of the eighties, exh. cat. (Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum, 1988), 38, cat. 481.
Donna M De Salvo, Ann Goldstein, and Kathryn Chiong, Lawrence Weiner: As Far as the Eye Can See, exh. cat. (Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2007), 399, cat. 481.
Donna M De Salvo, Ann Goldstein, and Kathryn Chiong, Lawrence Weiner: As Far as the Eye Can See, exh. cat. (Düsseldorf: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, 2008), 32.
Douglas Druick, et al., The Essential Guide, third edition (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), 136 (color ill.).
Douglas Druick, et al., The Essential Guide, fourth edition (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2013), 152 (color ill.).
Walead Beshty, Picture industry: A Provisional History of the Technical Image, 1844-2018, exh. cat. (Feldmeilen, Switzerland: LUMA Foundation, 2018), 851.
Paris, Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Sculpture, June 27-Sept. 22 1985, no cat. no.
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Works From the Beginning of the Sixties Towards the End of the Eighties, Nov. 19, 1988-Jan. 1, 1989, cat. 481.
Chicago, The Pond, Ideal Avalanche, Apr. 26-June 8, 2002, no cat.
Pelham, NY, Pelham Art Center, Pictures are the Problem, Mar. 11-Apr. 11, 2005, no cat.
Leuven, Belgium, STUCK artcentre - Stuk Kunstencentrum VZW, Living Currency, Nov. 8-Nov. 10, 2007, no cat.
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Lawrence Weiner: As Far as the Eye Can See, Nov. 15, 2007-Feb. 10, 2008, cat. 481; Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, Apr. 13, 2008-July 14, 2008; Düsseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Sept. 27, 2008-Jan. 4, 2009.
Bury England, Bury Art Gallery and Museum, Bloom, May 1, 2010-July 17, 2010, no cat.
London, Orel Art UK, Valery Chtak: Painting is a Dead Language, June 25-Aug. 13, 2010, not in cat.
Amsterdam, Extempore Temporary Contemporary Art Museum, ETCAMA: The Problem of Everything, June 15, 2013-July 28, 2013, no cat.
Annandale-on-Hudson, Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, Picture Industry, June 24-Dec. 15, 2017, no cat. no.; Arles, LUMA Arles, Picture Industry: A Provisional History of the Technical Image, 1844-2018, Oct. 12, 2018-Jan. 6, 2019.
Beijing, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, LAWRENCE WEINER: CUT & SPLICED & KEPT TOGETHER, July 20, 2024-Oct. 20, 2024.
The artist; Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg, New York, December 1980 [correspondence from artist, copy in curatorial object file]; donated to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1982.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
