In my opinion art is conceptual. The thing that moves us about art, the thing that touches us is always the idea. — William Anastasi
William Anastasi (1933–2023, Philadelphia – New York) occupies a foundational place within the history of postwar American art. Across more than six decades, he developed one of the most rigorous and singular practices to emerge from the New York conceptual scene, working fluidly across drawing, sculpture, photography, installation, performance, sound, language, and moving image. Throughout this remarkably diverse body of work, Anastasi consistently investigated the relationship between perception and artistic production, transforming ordinary actions into procedures through which the world itself became an active participant in the making of the work. Long before phenomenology became a central reference for contemporary artistic discourse, he conceived art as an embodied mode of attention in which walking, listening, movement, gravity, and chance generate forms beyond the limits of conscious intention.
Born in Philadelphia to Sicilian immigrant parents, Anastasi was largely self-taught. Before devoting himself entirely to art, he worked as a bricklayer, masonry contractor, salesman, and restaurant manager, experiences that profoundly shaped his understanding of labor, process, and material reality. Drawing nevertheless remained a constant throughout these years, accompanying him long before he considered himself an artist.