General Idea
General Idea
1969 - 1994
An important pioneer of conceptual art in Canada, General Idea made fundamental and lasting contributions to art discourse, queer identity, artist-run practice and art as activism.

The collective formed in Toronto in 1969 when three artists, AA Bronson, Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal began collaborating. They produced art infused with humour and criticality across a range of media, including two and three-dimensional materials, video, performance, installation, ephemera, television programs and even a beauty pageant. The group blurred the distinctions between life as art and art as life, carefully constructing their mythology and branding of General Idea, Inc. through their artist-run space and store in Toronto, Art Metropole, and the publication of FILE Megazine. This experimentation with forms of production and dissemination characterized their career as transgressive artists whose output critiqued the spectacle of mass media and challenged social power structures.

An increase in anti-LGBT policing caused the group to relocate from Toronto to New York in 1986 during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Through their work and visibility as outspoken members of the gay community, General Idea played a leading role in bringing discussion of the crisis to the forefront of both art and public discourse in the form of social practice. Using a send-up of Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture reconfigured as AIDS, they created a series of works called IMAGEVIRUS that circulated the image on posters in New York, Toronto, San Francisco and Berlin, sparking both controversy and awareness. The group ceased activity in 1994 when Partz and Zontal passed away from AIDS-related causes.

Their work has since been accepted as canon in conceptual art histories and discourse, and their lasting influence on artistic practice in Canada is profound. Their work is represented in major institutions worldwide, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Modern Art and the Stedelijk in Amsterdam.
HOW TO SELL
AVAILABLE WORKS
HEFFEL’S TOP RESULTS
Untitled (Ziggurat Painting #1) by General Idea sold for $64,250
General Idea
Untitled (Ziggurat Painting #1)
106 x 72 in, 269.2 x 182.9 cm
acrylic on canvas
Estimate: $70,000 - $90,000 CDN
Sold for: $64,250 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Two Works by General Idea sold for $1,250
General Idea
Two Works
,
various
Estimate: $1,000 - $1,500 CDN
Sold for: $1,250 CDN (premium included)
March 2017 - 3rd Session on Thursday, March 30, 2017
Untitled / Poodle Fragment by General Idea sold for $1,250
General Idea
Untitled / Poodle Fragment
6 3/4 x 8 3/4 in, 17.1 x 22.2 x 1.9 cm
mixed media on plaster
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000 CDN
Sold for: $1,250 CDN (premium included)
Matter & Mass on Thursday, September 27, 2018
Manipulating the Self by General Idea sold for $1,170
General Idea
Manipulating the Self
20 7/16 x 18 7/16 in, 51.9 x 46.8 cm
1973
photolithograph
Estimate: $800 - $1,200 CDN
Sold for: $1,170 CDN (premium included)
March 2014 - 4th Session on Thursday, March 27, 2014
The Poodle Never Begs Except for Meaning (Ghent Scarf) by General Idea sold for $875
General Idea
The Poodle Never Begs Except for Meaning (Ghent Scarf)
29 x 28 in, 73.7 x 71.1 cm
screenprint on nylon
Estimate: $600 - $800 CDN
Sold for: $875 CDN (premium included)
Prints & Multiples on Thursday, September 27, 2018
Ursa Major and Taurus: Pavilion Fragments from the Starry Vault by General Idea sold for $468
General Idea
Ursa Major and Taurus: Pavilion Fragments from the Starry Vault
23 x 31 in, 58.4 x 78.7 cm
letterpress, 23-carat gold, hot-stamping and analine dye
Estimate: $800 - $1,000 CDN
Sold for: $468 CDN (premium included)
September 2008 - 2nd Session on Thursday, September 25, 2008