My work is a form of recording in the sense of existence; it is a process of working through
— Hanne Darboven
Hanne Darboven (1941–2009) was a central figure of postwar Conceptual art whose work is distinguished by its rigorous engagement with time, seriality, and systems of notation. Although she lived and worked primarily in Hamburg, Darboven’s artistic breakthrough occurred during an extended stay in New York in the late 1960s. There, she entered into close dialogue with artists including Sol LeWitt, Lawrence Weiner, and Carl Andre, situating her practice within the emerging theoretical framework of Conceptual and Minimal art.
At the core of Darboven’s work is the translation of time into visual and spatial form. Using writing, drawing, numerical sequences, and serial structures, she developed a method for recording working time, biographical time, and historical time. These systems were applied with strict consistency, minimizing subjective expression in favor of procedural clarity. Meaning in her work emerges through duration, repetition, and the viewer’s sustained engagement with the structure.
Darboven rejected expressive authorship in favor of serial processes that foreground perception and cognition. The act of reading, following, and comprehending her systems becomes integral to the work itself, positioning reception as an active component of the artistic experience.
Her first exhibition with Konrad Fischer Galerie took place in Düsseldorf in 1967 and was only the second exhibition ever held in the gallery’s original space. Darboven participated in documenta 5 (1972) and documenta 6 (1977) in Kassel, affirming her central role in the development of international Conceptual art.
Her work is held in major museum collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; Tate, London; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; and the Migros Museum, Zurich.