conceptual art

American  

noun

1. art in which emphasis is placed on the means and processes of producing art objects rather than on the objects themselves and in which the various tools and techniques, as photographs, photocopies, video records, and the construction of environments and earthworks, are used to convey the message to the spectator.

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conceptual art British  

noun

1. art in which the idea behind a particular work, and the means of producing it, are more important than the finished work

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Other Word Forms

• conceptual artist noun

Example Sentences

A car park is in the conceptual art of the park.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2025

After shifting to a more conceptual art practice, Kearney has thought carefully about how much information to reveal in an image and how much to conceal.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 21, 2023

Some works reflect the long arm of conceptual art; more perpetuate outsider and folk art, craft and Indigenous traditions, as with the paintings of the self-taught octogenarian, Jessie Homer French.

From New York Times • Sep. 2, 2023

“We created a fake punk band and it was a conceptual art project.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2023

All will complement two pillars of the Hirshhorn’s collection: Joseph Hirshhorn’s founding bequest and the 39 works from the Panza collection of minimalist and conceptual art that came into the collection in 2008.

From Washington Post • Jan. 4, 2023