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In contrast to the divide between conception and execution advocated by Anglo-American artists in the second half of the 1960s, this book reappraises conceptual art by examining it from the perspective of craft. The emphasis on craft shifts the focus from the Western art system to its margins, where creators were relegated to the status of mere artisans in the colonial context, on the pretext that attaining that of artists was beyond their reach. From this peripheral point of view, the book shows that work carried out with artisanal means can lead to conceptual practice. Moreover, this shift in perspective provides a new understanding of several positions within conceptualism, which ultimately appears as an ongoing reflection on the role of the hands, making, and craft.
Ileana Parvu, professor of history and theory of art at Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD–Genève, HES-SO), lecturer at the University of Basel. After researching the crossing of boundaries between artistic genres and the notion of the object in 20th- and 21st-century art, she embarked on a project examining the making of conceptual art. This endeavor resulted in the current book, A Show of Hands, among other publications. Her ongoing research delves into Romanian art of the 1970s.