Seth Siegelaub
Encyclopedia
Seth Siegelaub is an American-born art dealer
, curator
, author and researcher
. He is best known for his innovative promotion of conceptual art
in New York in the 1960s and 70s., but has also been a political researcher and publisher, textile history bibliographer and collector, and a researcher working on a project on time and causality in physics.
At his gallery, "Seth Siegelaub Contemporary Art", operating between the Fall 1964 and April 1966, for one exhibition Siegelaub encouraged visitors to lounge on couches and chairs to appreciate the show as an overall environment and hosted a four-day happening
featuring the artist Arni Hendin. He was an aggressive promoter and paid as much attention to press and publicity as to the content of exhibitions, showing that even unconventional art work could be sold.
After the close of the gallery he gradually became, in Joseph Kosuth
's words, a "curator-at-large". He was the first exhibition organizer to specialize in dealing with conceptual art
, holding group exhibitions that had no existence outside of the catalogue., and was an active "independent curator", organizing 21 art exhibitions, books, catalogues and projects, throughout the USA, Canada and Europe between February 1968 and July 1971 in a wide range of new and original formats, including several important group shows, such as "The Xeroxbook" in December 1968, and "January 5–31, 1969" exhibition, which contained no objects, no paintings and no sculptures.
He is also the originator and author, with lawyer Robert Projansky, of "The Artist's Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement," published in 1971, which has been translated and published in French, Italian, German and Dutch.
At the turn of the 21st century he founded the Stichting Egress Foundation in Amsterdam to bring together his varied range of projects: contemporary art, textile history, time & causality research, and left communications study.
Siegelaub was born in the Bronx, New York, grew up in New York City, and currently resides in Amsterdam
, the Netherlands. For more biographic information.
Art dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art. Art dealers' professional associations serve to set high standards for accreditation or membership and to support art exhibitions and shows.-Role:...
, curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
, author and researcher
Researcher
A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...
. He is best known for his innovative promotion of conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
in New York in the 1960s and 70s., but has also been a political researcher and publisher, textile history bibliographer and collector, and a researcher working on a project on time and causality in physics.
At his gallery, "Seth Siegelaub Contemporary Art", operating between the Fall 1964 and April 1966, for one exhibition Siegelaub encouraged visitors to lounge on couches and chairs to appreciate the show as an overall environment and hosted a four-day happening
Happening
A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art, usually as performance art. Happenings take place anywhere , are often multi-disciplinary, with a nonlinear narrative and the active participation of the audience...
featuring the artist Arni Hendin. He was an aggressive promoter and paid as much attention to press and publicity as to the content of exhibitions, showing that even unconventional art work could be sold.
After the close of the gallery he gradually became, in Joseph Kosuth
Joseph Kosuth
Joseph Kosuth , is an American conceptual artist. Kosuth lives in New York and Rome.-Early life and career:Kosuth was born in Toledo, Ohio. He attended the Toledo Museum School of Design from 1955 to 1962 and studied privately under the Belgian painter Line Bloom Draper. In 1963, Kosuth enrolled at...
's words, a "curator-at-large". He was the first exhibition organizer to specialize in dealing with conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
, holding group exhibitions that had no existence outside of the catalogue., and was an active "independent curator", organizing 21 art exhibitions, books, catalogues and projects, throughout the USA, Canada and Europe between February 1968 and July 1971 in a wide range of new and original formats, including several important group shows, such as "The Xeroxbook" in December 1968, and "January 5–31, 1969" exhibition, which contained no objects, no paintings and no sculptures.
He is also the originator and author, with lawyer Robert Projansky, of "The Artist's Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement," published in 1971, which has been translated and published in French, Italian, German and Dutch.
At the turn of the 21st century he founded the Stichting Egress Foundation in Amsterdam to bring together his varied range of projects: contemporary art, textile history, time & causality research, and left communications study.
Siegelaub was born in the Bronx, New York, grew up in New York City, and currently resides in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, the Netherlands. For more biographic information.