MEL BOCHNER HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF CONCEPTUAL ART, PRODUCING THOUGHT-PROVOKING WORK IN NEARLY EVERY MEDIUM: DRAWING, PAINTING, PRINTS, PHOTOGRAPHY, SCULPTURE, BOOKS, AND INSTALLATIONS.
MEL BOCHNER, BORN 1940 IN PENNSYLVANIA, IS RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE LEADING FIGURES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTUAL ART IN NEW YORK. HE RECEIVED A BACHELORS OF FINE ARTS IN 1962 AND AN HONORARY DOCTORATE OF FINE ARTS IN 2005 FROM THE SCHOOL OF ART AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY. BOCHNER IS PART OF A GENERATION OF ARTISTS WHO BROKE AWAY FROM ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM AND TRADITIONAL COMPOSITION IN THE LATE 60S. HE CREATED ALONGSIDE ARTISTS EVA HESSE, DONALD JUDD, AND ROBERT SMITHSON AT A TIME OF RADICAL SOCIETAL CHANGE WHICH WAS UNQUESITONABLY REFLECTED IN THE ART AT THE TIME. BOCHNER HAS CONSISTENTLY QUESTIONED THE CONVENTIONS OF BOTH PAINTING AND LANGUAGE. HIS PIONEERING VISUAL USE OF LANGUAGE AND BOLD TEXT LED HARVARD UNIVERSITY ART HISTORIAN BENJAMIN BUCHLOH TO DESCRIBE HIS 1966 DRAWINGS AS, “THE FIRST TRULY CONCEPTUAL EXHIBITION.” TODAY, MEL BOCHNER STILL LIVES AND WORKS IN NEW YORK CITY AND CONTINUES TO CREATE AND CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO.