--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Conceptual art, for me, means work in…" description: "\"Conceptual art, for me, means work in which the idea is paramount and the material form is secondary, lightweight, ephemeral, cheap, unpretentious and/..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/lucy-r-lippard-33694_art_conceptual-art-for-me-means-work-in-whic_2061351.png" --- # Conceptual art, for me, means work in which the idea is… ![“Conceptual art, for me, means work in which the idea is paramount and the material form is secondary, lightweight, ephemeral, cheap, unpretentious and/or ‘dematerialized’” quote by Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/lucy-r-lippard-33694_art_conceptual-art-for-me-means-work-in-whic_2061351.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/lucy-r-lippard-33694_art_conceptual-art-for-me-means-work-in-whic_2061351.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/lucy-r-lippard-33694_art_conceptual-art-for-me-means-work-in-whic_2061351.png) > “Conceptual art, for me, means work in which the idea is paramount and the material form is secondary, lightweight, ephemeral, cheap, unpretentious and/or ‘dematerialized’” [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Conceptual art prioritizes ideas over physical form, challenging traditional notions of art as object. **In simple terms:** Idea matters more than material in conceptual art. Key Takeaway Focus on concept, not medium. Themes art theory materiality ideas ephemerality Mood analytical thought‑provoking Type critical artistic When to use this quote - gallery exhibitions - public installations - educational curricula Key Concepts conceptualism postmodernism aesthetics Questions to Reflect On - How do you convey ideas without objects? - What role does material play in understanding? A Different Perspective Audience may miss meaning without clear presentation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Conceptual art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conceptual-art/) [Ephemeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ephemeral/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) ## Related quotes > [When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/when-an-artist-uses-a-conceptual-form-of-art-it-means-that-all-of-the/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Conceptual art is entirely word-bound. It is, in fact, the kind of art that is exhausted in its verbal description.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stoddart/conceptual-art-is-entirely-word-bound-it-is-in-fact-the-kind-of-art/) [Alexander Stoddart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-stoddart/) > [The other great development has been in photography, but that too was influenced by Conceptual art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/the-other-great-development-has-been-in-photography-but-that-too-was/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Conceptual art, I don't even know what that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/watkin-tudor-jones/conceptual-art-i-don-t-even-know-what-that-is/) [Watkin Tudor Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/watkin-tudor-jones/) > [Im not trying to do conceptual art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sotos/im-not-trying-to-do-conceptual-art/) [Peter Sotos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sotos/) > [In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/in-conceptual-art-the-idea-or-concept-is-the-most-important-aspect-of/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [I spent a lot of time on my own working out the physical vocabulary for how Gollum moved. As I say, I drew on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/i-spent-a-lot-of-time-on-my-own-working-out-the-physical-vocabulary/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [I don’t work as a conceptualist. Let’s say the conceptual art model is that you have a project idea, or a set of concerns,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gossage/i-don-t-work-as-a-conceptualist-let-s-say-the-conceptual-art-model-is/) John Gossage > [What art is not processed? "Conceptual art." Somebody making a painting has to conceive of the size. I don't understand where these words came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-weiner/what-art-is-not-processed-conceptual-art-somebody-making-a-painting/) [Lawrence Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-weiner/) > [It would be obvious for me to do conceptual art, and I think I've done it already with smashing bass guitars and whatever -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simonon/it-would-be-obvious-for-me-to-do-conceptual-art-and-i-think-i-ve-done/) [Paul Simonon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simonon/) > [When I go to galleries in New York, I feel like I'm in school. I know that there's good contemporary conceptual art, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyp-malone/when-i-go-to-galleries-in-new-york-i-feel-like-i-m-in-school-i-know/) [Kyp Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyp-malone/) > [I am particularly interested in creating a relationship between ideas of reception in conceptual art and theater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-crouch/i-am-particularly-interested-in-creating-a-relationship-between-ideas/) [Tim Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-crouch/) > [Conceptual art became the liberating idea that gave the art of the next 40 years its real impetus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/conceptual-art-became-the-liberating-idea-that-gave-the-art-of-the/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [I am not really interested in clothing as a conceptual art form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/issey-miyake/i-am-not-really-interested-in-clothing-as-a-conceptual-art-form/) [Issey Miyake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/issey-miyake/) > [I've come up through art school, through painting, through graphic design, through advertising, through TV commercials and music video. I've designed books, built billboards,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kaye/i-ve-come-up-through-art-school-through-painting-through-graphic/) [Tony Kaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kaye/) ## More by Lucy R. Lippard > [“Looking at and 'appreciating' art has been understood as an instrument (or at best a result) of upward mobility, in which owning art is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/looking-at-and-appreciating-art-has-been-understood-as-an-instrument/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [Travel is the only context in which some people ever look around. If we spent half the energy looking at our own neighborhoods, we'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/travel-is-the-only-context-in-which-some-people-ever-look-around-if/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [Photographers find themselves directly in competition with mass media's misrepresentations of women. So the photographic terrain is particularly contested from a political point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/photographers-find-themselves-directly-in-competition-with-mass-media/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [“The postmodern notion of "appropriation" is not a good fit. In New Mexico, the "indigenous" is a syncretic fusion of Native American and Hispano…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/the-postmodern-notion-of-appropriation-is-not-a-good-fit-in-new/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [Despite having been awarded the dubious honor of arthood, all photography is still perceived as having one foot in the real world, a toe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/despite-having-been-awarded-the-dubious-honor-of-arthood-all/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [There is indeed something omnivorous about the act of photography. It offers a way of responding to everything about everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/there-is-indeed-something-omnivorous-about-the-act-of-photography-it/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [Given the lack of public skills in reading photographs, given that photographic content is sometimes buried in beauty, contemporary landscape photographers are often condemned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/given-the-lack-of-public-skills-in-reading-photographs-given-that/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [I intensely dislike the word 'critic,' because it puts you in an antagonistic position to artists. I've learned everything that I know about art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/i-intensely-dislike-the-word-critic-because-it-puts-you-in-an/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [The camera was another weapon in the wars of domination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/the-camera-was-another-weapon-in-the-wars-of-domination/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [I must admit to a personal lack of sympathy with women who have themselves photographed in black stockings, garter belts and boots, with bare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/i-must-admit-to-a-personal-lack-of-sympathy-with-women-who-have/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [A piece of paper or a photograph is as much an object, or as 'material' as a ton of lead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/a-piece-of-paper-or-a-photograph-is-as-much-an-object-or-as-material/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [Why are we still afraid of being other than men? Women are still in hiding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/why-are-we-still-afraid-of-being-other-than-men-women-are-still-in/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [Men have dominated the field of landscape photography just as they have dominated the land itself. Thus shooting a virgin landscape has been man's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/men-have-dominated-the-field-of-landscape-photography-just-as-they/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) [Explore all 14 Lucy R. Lippard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Conceptual art, for me, means work in which the idea is paramount and the material form is secondary, lightweight, ephemeral, cheap, unpretentious and/or ‘dematerialized’", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lucy R. 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