The Golden Brick

The Golden Brick is a collective of conceptual artists. The group was established in Los Angeles in 1991, and is known for using artistic plagiarism to motivate people to reconsider value and originality in contemporary art. Their work included copying fairly well known and popular artists, claiming other artists' work as their own, and creating catalogues of fictitious shows.

One of their most notorious works was a small edition of books titled, simply Monograph. The book was a selection of acclaimed artwork, including some of the most sensational work of the controversial 1993 Whitney Biennial, which was then photocopied and bound by the group. They declared that all the work was made by members of the collective.

The 1993 Biennial was an appropriate choice as a target for the Golden Brick. At the time it opened, the show offended many people, but it also showed the world what art in the early Nineties was: raw, uncensored, and confrontational. The critical enthusiasm the show has retrospectively generated is almost unanimous. Hence, critics and artists alike were quick to attack the work of the Golden Brick. It was perceived as a gesture undermining the new artists who were taking risks in the show by devaluing them through reproduction.

Members of the original group protected their anonymity, and they are assumed to have been serious practicing artists themselves. The number of people in the collective shifted throughout its existence, but it is believed to have mostly hovered at around 20 members. They worked together for approximately 3 years and then the group dissipated.