Galerie Martin Janda curated by Jan Mot
„Ian Wilson. There is a discussion.“

Jan Mot (*1964, Brussels) studied art history and museology in Leuven (BE) and Amsterdam (NL) and opened his gallery in Brussels in 1996 after working as an independant curator. 

There is a discussion is a work by Ian Wilson from 1972. It is defined by the artist as a ‘statement’ and takes the form of a typewritten or printed sheet of paper bearing the text ‘There is a discussion’ and Wilson’s signature. The work is an unlimited edition and was produced till shortly before he died in 2020. There is a discussion represents the quintessence of Wilson’s work.

After having worked as a painter in the tradition of abstract art, Wilson exchanged visual abstraction for the abstraction of language. In 1968 he started to define his conversations on the concept of time as his works. Artists are his first participants, soon followed by curators, gallerists and collectors. Over a period of five decades the discussions developed from the initial subject of “Time” (1968–1969) to “Oral Communication” (1969–1972), “The Known and Unknown” (1972–1986) and “The Absolute” (1994–2017).

Wilson is considered to be one of the most radical conceptual artists, driven by an investigation to challenge the tradition of the precious object in art. Therefore, it is no surprise that nothing material is produced in the context of his discussions, besides an announcement card in the case of public discussions, or the certificates used to confirm the transfer of ownership of the oral work. The very first person to acquire a discussion was Lawrence Weiner, another language artist, who did not need a certificate as, in his words, “The discussion was what there was.”

Alongside a representative selection of certificates, the exhibition includes two other types of work. The first of which are the two Circles, one drawn on the floor, the other one on the wall. Both dating from 1968, they were the last visual works Wilson made and a turning point in his oeuvre. The second type is the set of artist books named Sections, published between 1982 and 2005 (in a small format and in a large edition) and between 1992 and 2014 (in a bigger format, each Section being a unique piece).

In answer to a Frieze questionnaire: ‘If you could live with only one piece of art, what would it be?’ Manon de Boer replied: “There is a discussion by Ian Wilson (…) It always reminds me that the basis of love, art and friendship is the exchange and sharing of thought.” (Frieze, 115, May 2008, p. 188)