‘THIS IS NOT ART!’: Conceptual Art and Christine Kozlov at Raven Row
Installation views, Conceptual Art and Christine Kozlov, Raven Row, 2026. Photographs by Marcus J Leith
In the first room of Raven Row’s exhibition ‘Conceptual Art and Christine Kozlov’ you are met with a simple black and white canvas which proclaims ‘THIS IS NOT ART’. Later, you come across a piece of paper covered in the artist’s handwriting and spot the scribbled echo ‘THIS IS NOT ART! – IS A BIT OF A JOKE ON THIS IS ART IF I SAY SO.’ It’s one of many drily witty, coded gestures to be found here, in what is the most comprehensive exhibition of Kozlov’s work yet, giving its visitors a fuller sense of her work – and networks – than any previous audience.
Christine Kozlov, Information Drift, 1968 © Christine Kozlov Estate. Photo: Carter Seddon
You are met with a simple black and white canvas which proclaims ‘THIS IS NOT ART’
Both artist and organiser, Christine Kozlov (1945–2005) was a key figure in the wave of Conceptual Art that began in the 1960s; an art movement which was more interested in the idea than the object, whose practitioners used everyday materials (from postcards to airline insurance policies) to create self-reflexive works that question the structure of language and its slippery, unfixed meanings. Kozlov was still a student when she co-founded Lannis Gallery, later the Museum of Normal Art, with Joseph Kosuth. Despite it becoming an epicentre for the movement, she has received much less recognition than many of her friends and collaborators, who included Kosuth, Joan Jonas, and artists’ group Art & Language.
This show at Raven Row (curated by Rhea Anastas, who has spent years in the artist’s archive) includes a series of self-portraits displayed alongside the seemingly mundane: months-long lists of what Kozlov ate each day, and a stack of blank paper titled 271 Blank Sheets of Paper Corresponding to 271 Days of Concepts Rejected. Also on show is Information: No Theory (1970): an antiquated recorder which records all sounds in the room but resets itself every two minutes, so that new information is constantly erasing the old.
Installation views, Conceptual Art and Christine Kozlov, Raven Row, 2026. Photographs by Marcus J Leith
The show, however, is almost a little too true to its ideas-based origins. There’s a total lack of wall text accompanying the works, not even captions or dates (instead these are found in the accompanying exhibition pamphlet). This decision, Anastas explains, allows the viewer to ‘consider relationships between objects without the lingering feeling that an expert opinion could improve their understanding.’
The show, however, is almost a little too true to its ideas-based origins.
I understand the logic – conceptual art is about resisting fixed meanings, after all – but personally it left me feeling disorientated and unanchored. I wanted to be absorbed in the work, to consider relationships between objects, but I found myself looking back and forth between wall and pamphlet instead.
Christine Kozlov, Self-Portraits (detail), 1968–70 © Christine Kozlov Estate
It’s possible I am overthinking it. Perhaps, for Kozlov, this lover of note-taking, lists and, well, just blank paper itself, this is the perfect tribute.
VISITING INFO:
GALLERY NAME: Raven Row
ADDRESS: 56 Artillery Lane, E1 7LS
DATES: Feb 9th - April 26th 2026, Wed - Sat 11AM – 6PM