Daniel Grúň

Repositioning Július Koller’s More (1963–1964): Conceptualism, Region and Critical Art History

This study offers a discursive analysis of one of the pivotal early works by Slovak artist Július Koller (1939–2007), More (1963–1964), a piece included in the landmark exhibition Global Conceptualism: Points of Origin, 1950s–1980s, held at the Queens Museum of Art in New York in 1999. The article examines More through two distinct methodological frameworks.

The first framework engages with the critical reception of the work within Slovak and Czech arthistorical discourse, situating it within the broader theoretical context of horizontal art history. This approach sheds light on the political geography of Central and Eastern Europe, offering a new perspective on established narratives of modern and contemporary art.

The second framework employs a contextualarchival methodology to analyse More in relation to Koller’s wider artistic output from the 1960s and early 1970s. Drawing on the artist’s previously unpublished notes and reflections from the time of the work’s creation, the study repositions More as part of a conceptual trajectory that consistently sought to destabilise the autonomy of the artwork. It does so by redirecting artistic attention toward the aesthetics of political discourse and collective ideological constructs, including communism and nationalism.

Through this multilayered reading, the study not only proposes new interpretative possibilities for More but also interrogates the applicability and limits of the terms conceptualism and Conceptual Art when used in reference to artistic practices emerging from nonWestern contexts. In doing so, it highlights the divergent theoretical frameworks and historiographical strategies that have variously designated Koller’s work as Slovak, Czechoslovak, Central–Eastern European, or global.

Ultimately, by juxtaposing differing methodological perspectives and historiographic narratives, the study reveals contrasting approaches to writing art history after 1945 — approaches that continue to shape our understanding of conceptualism beyond the Western canon.

Author's email:

grun@vsvu.sk

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54759/ART-2025-0403



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