GENERAL IDEA

1969-1994, Canada

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General Idea Biography

General Idea were formed in 1969 by friends AA Bronson, Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal; for the next 25 years they lived and worked together to produce the living artwork of their being together, undertaking over 100 solo exhibitions, and countless group shows and temporary public art projects.

They were known for their magazine FILE (1972–1989), their unrelenting production of low-cost multiples, and their early involvement in punk, queer theory, AIDS activism, and other manifestations of the other. In 1974 they founded Art Metropole, Toronto, a distribution center and archive for artists’ books, audio, video, and multiples, which they conceived as the shop and archive for their Gesamtkunstwerk: The 1984 Miss General Idea Pavillion, a kind of meta-museum. From 1987 through 1994, they focused their work on the subject of AIDS. The group was de facto dissolved with the deaths of Pertz and Zontal in 1994 although General Idea’s work continues to be exhibited.

Courtesy Maureen Paley

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Atomic 2 by General Idea contemporary artwork mixed media

General Idea Atomic 2, 1986 Enamel on canvas with painted wood
91 x 76 cm
115.6 x 100.3 cm (incl frame) Maureen Paley

AIDS Marcus Garvey by General Idea contemporary artwork painting

General Idea AIDS (Marcus Garvey), 1991 Graphite and gouache on paper
13 x 9.5 inches
Maureen Paley

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Contemporary art exhibition AA Bronson General Idea AA Bronson General Idea at Maureen Paley London United Kingdom

AA Bronson, General Idea AA Bronson + General Idea Maureen Paley 30 September–11 November 2018
London

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General Idea High Profile, 1978 Screenprint on paper
119 x 76 cm
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Represented By

Esther Schipper contemporary art gallery in Esther Schipper Berlin Germany

Esther Schipper Berlin +2 locations Follow +

Maureen Paley contemporary art gallery in London United Kingdom

Maureen Paley Hove +1 location Follow +

General Idea in Ocula Magazine

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