Seth Siegelaub (1941,
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
New York – June 15, 2013,
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
,
Switzerland) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
-born
art dealer
An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art.
An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...
,
curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
, author, and
researcher
Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...
. He is best known for his innovative promotion of
conceptual art
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
in New York in the 1960s and '70s, but has also been a political researcher and publisher,
textile history
''Textile History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal first published in 1968 and published by Maney Publishing on behalf of the Pasold Research Fund. It covers "aspects of the cultural and social history of apparel and textiles, as well as iss ...
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 of 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.
[Alexander Alberro, ''Conceptual Art and the Politics of Publicity'', MIT Press, 2003, pp10-11. ] He was an aggressive promoter and paid as much attention to press and publicity as to the content of exhibitions, showing that even unconventional artwork could be sold.
[
After the close of the gallery he gradually became, in ]Joseph Kosuth
Joseph Kosuth (; born January 31, 1945), an American conceptual artist, lives in New York and London, 's words, a "curator-at-large". He was the first exhibition organizer to specialize in dealing with conceptual art
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
, 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 was 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
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, New York, grew up in New York City, and resided in Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, the Netherlands. He died in Basel, Switzerland on June 15, 2013.
Selected interviews
* "A conversation: between Seth Siegelaub and Hans Ulrich Obrist
Hans Ulrich Obrist (born 1968) is a Swiss art curator, critic, and historian of art. He is artistic director at the Serpentine Galleries, London. Obrist is the author of ''The Interview Project'', an extensive ongoing project of interviews. He is ...
", TRANS> #6, 1999
* "Nothing Personal... An Interview with Seth Siegelaub", Interview conducted by Alice Motard and Alex Sainsbury, London, 28 November 2011, catalogue Raven Row (London)
* "The Real World: Artist Matthieu Laurette
Matthieu Laurette (born 1970 in Villeneuve Saint Georges, France) is a media and conceptual contemporary French artist who works in a variety of media, from TV and video to installation and public interventions.
He lives and works in Paris, A ...
and the prolific curator, collector and dealer Seth Siegelaub discuss the legacy of Conceptual art
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
, the origins of curating and how art history is made." FRIEZE #154, April 2013 (London)"The Real World: Artist Matthieu Laurette and the prolific curator, collector and dealer Seth Siegelaub discuss the legacy of Conceptual art, the origins of curating and how art history is made. FRIEZE #154, April 2013 (London)"
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siegelaub, Seth
1941 births
2013 deaths
American art curators
American art dealers