Mel Bochner born 1940

American Conceptual artist and writer on art. Born in Pittsburgh. Took BFA degree at the Carnegie Institute of Technology 1962 (major in painting; minor in philosophy). Has taught aesthetics, art history and sculpture at the School of Visual Arts, New York, since 1965. Became deeply involved in 'moving away from the tangible "Object of Art" into a more conceptual notion of art as a procedure'. Made number drawings and photograph pieces 1965-7 based on sets of simple rules involving permutation, reversal, rotation and progression. First one-man exhibition at the Visual Arts Gallery at the School of Visual Arts 1966. From 1967-8 engaged in the notation of measurement, e.g. marking the dimensions of a room straight onto the room's walls. Also began in 1969 a series titled 'Theory' and including 'The Theory of Boundaries', 'Ten Aspects of the Theory of Measurement', etc. Has made several films including Walking a Straight Line through Grand Central Station 1965. Lives in New York.

Published in:
Ronald Alley, Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, pp.61-2