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

Thumbing its nose at the blockchain while offering a technodystopic vision of the Freudian death drive, it’s conceptual art with a serious message that refuses to take itself too seriously.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

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

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2025

Visitors to the two main venues, the Giardini and the Arsenale, will be greeted by a neon sign by the conceptual art cooperative Claire Fontaine with the exhibition’s title: “Stranieri Ovunque — Foreigners Everywhere.”

From Seattle Times • Apr. 19, 2024

The ’70s and ’80s New York art world: The art world, when we arrived in the late ’70s, was very much about conceptual art, minimal art.

From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2023

A product of Britain’s Royal Academy of Art, Mr. Stobart moved to the United States in 1970, when conceptual art, Op Art and minimalism were riding high in the wake of Abstract Expressionism.

From New York Times • May 1, 2023