Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a paint drawing by Tony Conrad. It dates from 1973 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Tony Conrad created this work in 1973 using flat latex paint on seamless paper. The piece is classified as a drawing despite its materiality, reflecting the artist’s interest in blurring boundaries between media. Its minimal composition consists of a white central field enclosed by a thick, irregular black frame, emphasizing structure over representation.
Subject & Meaning
The work resists symbolic interpretation, instead foregrounding the physical act of marking and the limits of the support. The black border functions not as a frame for content but as the subject itself—defining space through absence and material presence. It invites attention to the edge as a boundary between object and environment.
Technique & Style
Conrad applied Magicolor No. 3011-11 latex by hand, leaving visible brushwork and uneven edges that reveal the process of creation. The contrast between the matte white ground and the dense black perimeter heightens perceptual tension. The roughness of the border contrasts with the paper’s smoothness, introducing tactile immediacy to an otherwise reductive form.
History & Provenance
The work entered The Museum of Modern Art’s collection as part of its broader engagement with post-1960s conceptual and process-based practices. It reflects Conrad’s shift from experimental film and music toward visual art, aligning with contemporaneous investigations into materiality and perception by artists associated with Minimalism and Fluxus.
Context
Created during a period when artists were redefining drawing beyond pencil or ink, this piece responds to debates around the autonomy of the art object. Conrad’s use of industrial paint and unprimed paper echoes contemporaneous work by Robert Ryman and On Kawara, emphasizing neutrality, repetition, and the physicality of surface.
Legacy
The work contributes to an expanded understanding of drawing as an act of spatial definition rather than depiction. Its inclusion in major collections signals its role in legitimizing non-traditional materials and processes within institutional frameworks, influencing later generations focused on material specificity and perceptual experience.
Artist & collection
Artist
Anthony Schmalz Conrad was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer.
