Michael Asher (artist)
Michael Asher is a conceptual artist known since the late 1960s for site-specific installations that offer a critique of art institutions. Rather than designing new art objects, Asher typically alters the existing environment, by repositioning or removing artworks, walls, facades, etc.
Born in 1943, Asher is the son of Gallerist Betty Asher and Dr. Leonard Asher[1].
Asher is also reputed as a teacher at the California Institute of the Arts, where his "post-studio art" course consists of intensive group critiques that can focus on a single work for eight hours or more.
His Writings, 1973-1983, on Works 1969-1979, co-authored by the art historian Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, was published by The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
His untitled 1991 work featuring a granite drinking fountain juxtaposed with a flag pole was his first permanent public outdoor work in the United States. It is part of the Stuart Collection of public art on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.