FTHo

David Lamelas Time (1970) Print on paper. Image courtesy Monika Spruth & Philomene Magers (Berlin & London) and Jan Mot (Brussels)

David Lamelas was a groundbreaking figure in the emergence of an international conceptual art in the late 60s. 

After representing Argentina at the Venice Biennale in 1968 with his work Office of Information about the Vietnam war on Three Levels: The Visual Image, Text and Audio, Lamelas came to London to study sculpture at St Martin's School of Art under Anthony Caro. At St Martin's, Lamelas met Barry Flanagan, and through him a network of artists engaged in making conceptual art in London at that time, including Gilbert & George, Keith Arnatt, John Latham and Ian Breakwell. During his time at St Martin's, Lamelas began to make the films for which he is best known. He continues to make work about the ways in which information is imparted to us, and the ways in which we receive it. Time is also a central theme in his work and Lamelas has declared, "Time doesn't exist, our consciousness constructs it. Time is a fiction." He lives and works between Europe, the US and South America.

Lisa Le Feuvre teaches in the Department of Art, Goldsmiths and is Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Maritime Museum where she is currently working on exhibitions with Renee Green and Jeremy Millar for 2009.

The conversation on 3 December will concentrate on the role of time in David Lamelas' work, and the friendships and work made during his time in London in the late 60s and early 70s.