Long, Richard (1945– )

English conceptual artist. In the vanguard of 1960s artists wishing to break away from studio-created art, he has worked both outdoors and on the spot in galleries. He uses natural materials such as stone, slate, wood, and mud to represent the ritualized traces of early peoples, notably in River Avon Driftwood (1977; Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent). Only photographic records remain of much of his work. He won the Turner Prize in 1989.

His celebrated stone circles and rivers of sticks were created during walks in remote areas of Ireland, the Himalayas, Africa, and Iceland. In 1986, the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York, organized a major exhibition of Long's work from the 1970s and 1980s. In 1988, Long was given a solo exhibition at Neue Galerie-Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen, in conjunction with his receiving the Kunstpreis Aachen. He continues to have frequent solo shows internationally.