Douglas Huebler (b. 1924, Ann Arbor, MI, d. 1997, Truro, MA) was a seminal Conceptual artist. Having abandoned painting and sculpture by the late 1960s, Huebler is primarily known for his work combining short written statements (usually containing a description of a structure or system) with other materials, such as photography, drawings, and maps, to wryly deconstruct the ways meaning is derived from visual information. Huebler’s first one-person museum exhibition was at the Phillips Gallery, Detroit, in 1953. He exhibited extensively in galleries and museums in the United States and Europe, as well as in international exhibitions such as “Documenta V” (1972). The last retrospective of his work during his lifetime was presented at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1994. There have been several posthumous one-person exhibitions, including at the Camden Arts Centre, London (2002), and the Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain, Geneva (2006). Huebler’s academic career spanned more than forty years; he taught at Miami University in Ohio, Bradford College in Massachusetts, Harvard University, and at the California Institute of the Arts (Valencia), where he served as dean of the School of Art from 1976 to 1988.
Douglas Huebler
Truro Series #1, 1966
Formica on plywood
35 x 54 x 21 in. (88.9 x 137.2 x 53.3 cm)
Douglass Huebler
Site Sculpture Project #5, 1968, 50 Mile Piece, 1968, Haverhill – Windham – New York City, thirteen gelatin silver prints, written statement. Installation view taken from the exhibition January 5th - 31st, 1969, organized by Seth Siegelaub, at his gallery at 44 East 52nd Street, New York, 1969. The statement, with thirteen photographs, constitutes the piece and reads: "This work is formed by thirteen photographs that serve to mark the location of sites listed above (and marked in that sequence) which actually describe 50 mile intervals of highway space. All photographs were taken fifteen paces from the edge of the road with the camera ahead about three feet above the site and at a right angle to it."
Douglas Huebler
Variable Piece #101, 1973
gelatin silver print, printed paper and marker pen mounted on board
31 ½ x 37 ¼ inches (80 x 94.5 cm)
frame: 33 x 38 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (83.8 x 98.4 x 3.8 cm)
signed 'Douglas Huebler' (on the paper element)
Douglas Huebler
Location Piece #13 (Washington March), 1969
color and black & white photographs, c-print, bond paper
photographs, left panel: 37 x 51 1/4 in. (94 x 130.2 cm)
newspaper, right panel: 37 x 28 3/4 in. (94 x 73 cm)
40.6 x 33 x 3.8 cm
Douglas Huebler
Untitled, c. 1965-66
formica with brushed aluminum on a plywood understructure
66 1/2 x 19 x 9 3/4 in. (168.9 x 48.3 x 24.8 cm)
Douglas Huebler
Bradford Series #2, 1965
formica
40 x 30 x 37 1/2 in. (101.6 x 76.2 x 95.3 cm)
Douglas Huebler
Variable Piece #70: 1971 (In Process) Global, Crocodile Tears: The Signature Artist (Napoleon), 1990
oil and acrylic on canvas, text, photograph, silkscreen on plexiglas
left panel, silkscreen: 40 5/8 x 30 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (103.2 x 77.5 x 3.8 cm), middle panel, painting: 41 1/2 x 45 1/4 x 1 1/2 in. (105.4 x 114.9 x 3.8 cm), right panel, text & photo: 41 x 30 7/8 x 1 1/2 in. (104.1 x 78.4 x 3.8 cm), overall: 41 1/2 x 112 3/4 in. (105.4 x 286.4 cm), signed and dated on text panel: "Douglas Huebler 1990"
Douglas Huebler
Variable Piece #70: 1971 (In Process) Global, Crocodile Tears: Peaceable Kingdom: Lloyd V (Matisse), 1988-90
acrylic and collage on board, photograph
text left panel, text & photo: 41 x 31 in. (104.1 x 78.7 cm), matted image size: 30 3/8 x 20 3/4 in. (77.2 x 52.7 cm), right panel, painting: 48 3/4 x 73 in. (123.8 x 185.4 cm), overall: 48 3/4 x 112 in. (123.8 x 284.5 cm)
