Process Art

Process Art is an artistic movement that took place in the 1960s in Europe and America. The underlying principle behind Process Art is that the process of creating a work of art is the most important aspect of the work, rather than the final object itself. This includes the gathering and sorting of materials, and the planning and construction of the work. The artists of this movement believed in this principle because they saw art as a pure form of human expression, and so the process of producing an artwork was considered to be the art itself. This way of thinking can be called “anti-form". Artist Robert Morris is considered a leader of Process Art due to his 1968 exhibition and essay that defined the movement. He said that Process Artists were concerned with the body, randomness and improvisation. They often used nontraditional art materials such as latex and wax to induce actions and processes such as cutting, hanging, growth, freezing and decomposition.

Some examples of Process Art are performance art and the Dada movement, as they both privilege the artistic process over a static end product. Jackson Pollock's drip paintings can also be considered as belonging to the Process Art movement, due to their emphasis on the spontaneous action of the artist in throwing paint at the canvas. Transience and change are common themes in process art, as seen in these examples.

Artsper has curated a selection of contemporary artists who privilege the process over the end product in their art, following on the legacy of the Process Art movement. Find artists such as Stéphane Rime and Anne Ghez today!