“Conceptual Art: A Master Class for Everyone” is the first course in the history of the Art Students League to explore the concept of art as an idea that may exist independently from an object’s representation. Engaging the tools used by makers in the fields of new media, performance, and generative art, this working group is ideal for anyone who wishes to understand conceptual art, utilize the strategies of creative thinking, or refine their craft through the practice of generative art making.

Following the dematerialization of the art object as a narrative arc over the course of a full year, each month the class offers a stand-alone unit that introduces a new concept or tool. Created to support art makers at all levels of proficiency, this format enables anyone to join the group at any time throughout the year while allowing students to decide the topic of each unit. This year, the ASL’s conceptual artists elected to cover Dada, Surrealism, recontextualization, abstraction and video art, new media and AI, relational aesthetics, eco-art, art and science collaboration (art/sci), installation, sound art, community art, and performance as unit topics.

The artworks presented here showcase the novel practices introduced each month and the long-term project work created over one or more units. These works represent only a fraction of the extraordinary art the group created from 2022 to 2023. To watch videos, listen to sound art, view digital archives, and read the supporting text, please go to each artist’s website and/or social media page. It remains my honor and delight to support the practice of each artist in the group. Sincerely yours,
Elizabeth Demaray

Bio: Elizabeth Demaray is the recipient of the National Studio Award from NY MOMA/P.S.1, the Skowhegan Fellowship and the Welcome to the Anthropocene award from the Association of Environmental Science Studies. Demaray is a professor of fine art and head of the concentrations in sculptor and intermedia at Rutgers University, Camden.