Mel Bochner: Difference between revisions

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| birth_date = {{birth-date|1940|1940}}

| birth_place = [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], U.S.

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'''Mel Bochner''' (born 1940) is an [[United States of America|American]] [[conceptual art]]ist. Bochner received his [[Bachelor of Fine Arts|BFA]] in 1962 and honorary Doctor of Fine Arts in 2005 from the [[Carnegie Mellon School of Art|School of Art]] at [[Carnegie Mellon University]]. He lives in [[New York City]].<ref>[http://art.yale.edu/MelBochner Yale faculty profile]</ref>

Bochner was born in [[Pittsburgh]] in 1940. In high school, he won early recognition for his talent from [[The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards]] and studied with Joseph Fitzpatrick]. He studied art at [[Carnegie Mellon University]] and graduated in 1962. After leaving [[Pittsburgh]], he studied philosophy at [[Northwestern University]] near Chicago. He moved to New York in 1964 and worked as a guard at [[Jewish Museum (New York)|The Jewish Museum]].<ref>[http://brooklynrail.org/2006/05/art/in-conversation-mel-bochner-with-phong-bui Mel Bochner interview with Phong Bui]</ref> In 1966, he was recruited by the influential art critic [[Dore Ashton]] to teach art history at the [[School of Visual Arts]] in New York.

Bochner is [[Jewish]] and his work sometimes explores Jewish themes.<ref>[https://www.algemeiner.com/2014/08/24/mel-bochner-is-an-amazing-jewish-artist/ the algemeiner/Aug 2014] "As an American Jew, I see these words and realize how much Jewish culture has become a part of every-day American life."</ref> Starting in the 1960s, he evolved several of the exhibition strategies now taken for granted, including using the walls of the gallery as the subject of the work and using photo documentation of ephemeral and performance works. As Richard Kalina wrote in ''[[Art in America]]'' in 1996, Bochner was one of the earliest proponents, along with [[Joseph Kosuth]] and [[Bruce Nauman]], of photo-documentation work in which the artist "created not so much a sculpture as a two-dimensional work about sculpture."

In 1985, the [[Carnegie Mellon]] Art Gallery organized a major survey titled ''Mel Bochner:1973-1985''. Elaine A. King was the curator of this exhibition and it was accompanied by the publication of a catalog of the same title. This catalogue was given an award by the [[American Association of Museums]]. King wrote the essay "Building a Language," and Charles Stuckey contributed the piece "An Interview with Mel Bochner." The exhibition traveled to the Kuntzmuseum in Luzern, Switzerland and Center for Fine Arts, Miami. John Russell wrote in a [[New York Times]] article, "Art View; The Best and Biggest in Pittsburgh", {{quote|The Bochner retrospective is divided between the university art gallery and the Hewlett Gallery in the College of Fine Arts, a short walk away. In the catalogue, Miss King and Charles Stuckey do a fine job of elucidation.

In 2011, a retrospective of his work was held at the [[National Gallery of Art]] in WashingtinWashington D.C.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/critics-review-national-gallerys-in-the-tower-mel-bochner/2011/10/31/gIQAiI7AmM_story.html| title=Critic's review: National Gallery's 'In the Tower: Mel Bochner'| worknewspaper=The Washington Post|author=Philip Kennicott| date= November 4, 2011}}</ref>

A survey of Mel Bochner's work - entitled ''Mel Bochner: If the Colour Changes'', was held at [[Whitechapel Gallery]], London, Haus der Kunst, Munich, and Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto during 2012. Tracing nearly 50 years of work, this exhibition commences with "Blah, Blah, Blah" (2011) a huge painting that encapsulates Bochner's ongoing fascination with language and with colourcolor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mel Bochner Whitechapel Exhibition 2012|url=http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/mel-bochner|accessdate=4 October 2012}}</ref> The exhibition is accompanied by a first comprehensive monograph, published by [[Ridinghouse]], with essays by Achim Borchardt-Hume, [[Briony Fer]], João Fernandes, [[Mark Godfrey (curator)|Mark Godfrey]] and Ulrich Wilmes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mel Bochner Monograph|url=http://www.ridinghouse.co.uk/publications/71/|accessdate=4 October 2012}}</ref>

• From the seminal canvas in 2008 until 2012 Bochner executed a painting series titled ''[[BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!]]'' after the motif of the textual content of the works.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/t-magazine/mel-bochner.html|title = A Conceptual Art Pioneer Who Doesn't Mince Words|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 26 November 2019|last1 = Lakin|first1 = Max}}</ref>