JOSEPH KOSUTH

The Question consists of a selection of works pinpointing Kosuth’s investigations into the nature of art and the making of meaning throughout his practice over half a century. At the core of his work lies the radical belief that the language of art is fundamentally philosophy made manifest, and his enduing interest has consistently privileged the questioning process as the primary starting and ending point for both art and its public. As a kind of philosophy by analogy, Kosuth reminds us of the artist’s duty to present new ideas – new ideas about what art is – which is not merely a reflection of the world but a dynamic, ongoing exploration of meaning itself.

Kosuth’s work engages deeply with the political and cultural upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s, placing his art within the broader social and political context of the time. His work evolved into, and continues to be, a powerful tool for critiquing societal norms and exploring how art can engage with issues of power, culture, and identity. His practice marks a critical response to the aesthetic crises posed by postmodernism: as traditional aesthetic categories collapsed in the latter half of the twentieth century, his work has offered a way to navigate this upheaval. Kosuth’s interest in the philosophy of language stems from his conviction that today’s fragmented, unstable reality offers little certainty, calling instead for investigation into the most basic – yet most difficult to answer – questions.

I have made it clear that it is my belief that the primary material of an artist is meaning (if only its cancellation) and thus, in my work, linguistic relations between objects and images, and language itself, has had a primary role. Forms and colours, for example, are a used-up approach to art making even though they may continue to be present and used for other purposes and having other meanings than they have had traditionally. A result of this, understanding has often meant that the ‘material’ of the work has been the context itself.

– Joseph Kosuth

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Joseph Kosuth (*1945, Toledo, OH) lives and works in New York and Venice. In spring 2025, Sean Kelly will open an exhibition in New York and Lia Rumma in Naples. All three shows are happening on occasion of Joseph Kosuth’s eightieth birthday. Selected institutional solo exhibitions include Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (forthcoming 2025), MAMM, Moscow (2015), Kunstmuseum Thurgau, Kartause Ittingen (2014), The Jewish Museum, New York (2012), Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2011), the ACCA - Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2010), the Louvre, Paris (2009), the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2006), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston (2000), the Tokushima Modern Art Museum (1999), the Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels (1990), the Sigmund Freud Museum, Vienna (1989) and the MoMA PS1, New York (1980). He has participated in Documenta V, VI, VII and IX (1972, 1977, 1982, 1992) and the Venice Biennale (2007, 1999, 1993, 1976). Awards include the Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria (2003), the Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government (1993), the Menzione d’Onore at the Venice Biennale (1993) and the Brandeis Award (1990). In February 2001 he was awarded the Laurea Honoris Causa, a doctorate in Philosophy and Letters from the University of Bologna.