The Square Root of Minus One

1988–1990

Professor at the Hamburg art school

He is professor at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg.

1989

Founds the Foundation for the Arts at the Freud Museum

With Peter Pakesch he founds the Foundation for the Arts at the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna on the 50th anniversary of Freud’s death; Kosuth becomes its president. After giving the museum a work of his own, he invites other artists to do the same: the museum now holds thirteen works by thirteen Freud-influenced Conceptualists.

1989

Curates a Wittgenstein show in Vienna and Brussels

To mark the philosopher’s 100th birthday he curates “Ludwig Wittgenstein. Das Spiel des Unsagbaren,” showing numerous works by fellow artists; the exhibition is shown at the Wiener Secession in Vienna and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

1990

Curates “A Play of the Unmentionable”

In response to the debate over conservative attacks on the National Endowment for the Arts, he organizes at the Brooklyn Museum an exhibition on censorship drawn from its permanent collection: religious paintings, nudes, social satire, erotica, sculptures by Rodin, Bauhaus furniture. They are set beside statements by writers, art historians, philosophers and social critics to show how perceptions of art keep changing.

1990–1991

The Brandeis and Frederick Weisman awards

He receives the Brandeis Award (1990) and the Frederick Weisman Award (1991).

early 1990s

Curates a show for the Tokyo opening of Barneys

In Japan he curates a show celebrating the Tokyo opening of Barneys New York.