Richard Long

Richard Long was born in Bristol, UK in 1945 and has been at the forefront of contemporary art since 1967. That year, Long created a transient line in nature by repeatedly walking back and forth in a grassy field. He photographed the path left by his feet and entitled the documented action A Line Made by Walking. By structuring and measuring such a simple and everyday task as walking, Long had realized an idea which could be executed in constantly varying circumstances. He has since worked with other materials, such as mud and clay floor sculptures, maps and text, but continues to engage with concepts of nature, time and distance.

Long’s works have by some been associated with both minimalism and land art due to their restricted forms as well as Long’s involvement with the landscape. However, unlike the proponents of the Land Art movement, Long often works with and within the natural environment. In addition, his works often contain aspects of impermanence and transience, making his artistry unique in its kind.

In 1969, Long was included in the seminal exhibition of Minimalist and Conceptual works entitled When Attitude Becomes Form at the Kunsthalle Bern. He won the Turner Prize in 1989 and received the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture in 1990. He was also elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 2001 and awarded Japan’s Praemium Imperiale in the field of sculpture in 2009. In 2013, Long was made a CBE in Great Britain. Most recently, Whitechapel Gallery in London announced that Long was the Art Icon of 2015 based on his lifetime achievements.

Major solo exhibitions of Richard Long include Hamburger Bahnof, Berlin (2010); Tate Britain, London (2009); Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2007); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2006); National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (1996); Museum of Art, Philadelphia (1994) and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1986). Magasin III have exhibited works by Long on several occasions, including his solo exhibition at the museum in 1991–1992.