In the period between 1965 and 1975, conceptual art represented a change of paradigm unheard of until then in the history of art. It changed from an art conceived as an ‘autonomous object’ to another model in which this autonomy was called into question and it became more focused on the ‘process.’ The world of painting and sculpture was transformed into a plural reality in which artists produced performances, texts, interventions in the public space and in nature, etc.

The core of conceptual art at the CGAC is established through the presence of a series of works in its permanent collection, and also based on the institution’s exhibition and editorial history, in which regular exhibitions have been held—with their corresponding catalogues—dedicated to these artists since its inauguration in 1993. By way of example, we can look back on the emphasis placed during the early years on the work of artists such as Vito Acconci (1996), Dan Graham and Ana Mendieta (1997) or Marcel Broodthaers (1998), and, of course, in later initiatives such as the exhibition The Human Stain (2009), the solo exhibition of Bas Jan Ader’s work (2010) or, more recently, those dedicated to David Lamelas and Hamish Fulton (both in 2021).

The project Implosion. Conceptual Art in the CGAC Collection  (1965-1975) takes precisely two of these exhibitions as its starting point: the group exhibition The Human Stain, where the work of Joseph Kosuth was particularly relevant, and the Bas Jan Ader solo exhibition In Search of the Miraculous: Thirty Years Later. The curator aims to create an exhibition representing a case study and, at the same time, a narrative ‘situated’ (in Galicia) around conceptual art, a narrative that belongs to the CGAC, that enriches its heritage and gives it an original and differentiated identity—a concept that has been called for since the institution’s origins—not only on the Iberian Peninsula, but also on the international scene.