A timely and accessible exploration of contemporary activist art and artistic activism by a respected scholar and practitioner of many years' standing
Since the global financial crash of 2008, artists have become increasingly engaged in a wide range of cultural activism targeted against capitalism, political authoritarianism, colonial legacies, gentrification, but also in opposition to their own exploitation. They have also absorbed and reflected forms of protest within their art practice itself. The Art of Activism and the Activism of Art maps, critiques, celebrates and historicises activist art, exploring its current urgency alongside the processes which have given rise to activism by artists, and activist forms of art.
A timely and accessible exploration of contemporary activist art and artistic activism by a respected scholar and practitioner of many years' standing
Since the global financial crash of 2008, artists have become increasingly engaged in a wide range of cultural activism targeted against capitalism, political authoritarianism, colonial legacies, gentrification, but also in opposition to their own exploitation. They have also absorbed and reflected forms of protest within their art practice itself. The Art of Activism and the Activism of Art maps, critiques, celebrates and historicises activist art, exploring its current urgency alongside the processes which have given rise to activism by artists, and activist forms of art.
Since the global financial crash of 2008, artists have become increasingly engaged in a wide range of cultural activism targeted against capitalism, political authoritarianism, colonial legacies, gentrification, but also in opposition to their own exploitation. They have also absorbed and reflected forms of protest within their art practice itself. The Art of Activism and the Activism of Art maps, critiques, celebrates and historicises activist art, exploring its current urgency alongside the processes which have given rise to activism by artists, and activist forms of art.
Author Gregory Sholette approaches his subject from the unusual dual perspective of commentator (as scholar and writer) and insider (as activist artist). He describes a new wave of activist art taking place not only within community-based protest groups, as it has for decades, but also amongst professionally trained, MFA-bearing art practitioners, many of whom, by choice or by circumstance, refuse to respect the conventional borders separating painting from protest, or art from utility. The book explores the subtle distinction between activist forms of art and protest by artists, and proposes that contemporary activist art and art activism constitute a broader paradigm shift that reflects the crisis of contemporary capitalism.
Details
Pages: 176
Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Series: New Directions in Contemporary Art
Publication Date: 15th September 2022
Trim Size: 13 x 20 cm
Illustration Note: Includes 20 b&w illus
ISBN: 9781848224414
Reviews
'Sholette's latest book continues to expand our understanding of the vital, inspiring, and too often dismissed relationship between art and activism. It is an infinitely valuable historical source, but most significantly it is packed with models for future resistances.' - Lucy R. Lippard, author of Get the Message? A Decade of Art for Social Change
Selected as one of The Art Newspaper's Top Art Books of 2022: 'As a key member of the activist group Gulf Labor Coalition, Gregory Sholette has a unique perspective [...] This informed analysis spans more than 60 years of art activism' - Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper
'Sholette manages to provide a well-crafted, comprehensive, and well-thought-out trajectory of western activist art that is not only deeply engaging, but maintains a critical insight and unique perspective throughout.' – Alex Nicholls, Field: A Journal of Socially-Engaged Art Criticism
'Sholette's book is a tour de force.' – We Make Money Not Art
'Sholette has focused all of his work, his teaching, his writing and his life, on confronting systems of power that, left unchecked, could destroy us all.' – Carrie Mae Weems
'Our present situation calls for an analysis of the ambiguities that prevail in art activism – and Sholette's is so acute that it should be distributed far and wide as a reminder of where we are.' – Slavoj Zizek
'The rich chapters of this indispensable book demonstrate where serious art is taking place and how it can inspire true change among other intellectual practices.' – Santiago Zabala, ICREA Research Professor of Philosophy at Pompeu Fabra University and author of Why Only Art Can Save Us and Being at Large
Author Bio
Gregory Sholette is an activist artist, writer and Professor of studio art at Queens College, CUNY. He has participated in, documented and written about activist art for over forty years.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: The Contemporary Artist as Activist: Not Just a Test; 2. 1960-1968: The Situationists' Total Critique, and Total Cure; 3. Grupo de Plasticos Argentinos de Vanguardia; 4. Escaping the Long Greenbergian Shadow; 5. 1968 and After: The Phantom Archive of Social Movement Culture; 6. 1970s: The Activist Turn in Art; 7. 1980s: Artists Respond to the Neoliberal Turn; 8. 1990s: Repurposing Situationism as Tactical Media; 9. Back to the Streets: From Tactical Media to Occupy Wall Street; 10. Institutional Critique or Cultural Abolition? 11. 2016 and After: Winter is Coming / Winter is Here; 12. Black Lives Matter: Fugitivity in Plain Sight; 13. The Contemporary Artist as Activist: Conjectures, Hauntologies, Inconclusions; Notes; Acknowledgements; Further Reading; Index
Since the global financial crash of 2008, artists have become increasingly engaged in a wide range of cultural activism targeted against capitalism, political authoritarianism, colonial legacies, gentrification, but also in opposition to their own exploitation. They have also absorbed and reflected forms of protest within their art practice itself. The Art of Activism and the Activism of Art maps, critiques, celebrates and historicises activist art, exploring its current urgency alongside the processes which have given rise to activism by artists, and activist forms of art.
Author Gregory Sholette approaches his subject from the unusual dual perspective of commentator (as scholar and writer) and insider (as activist artist). He describes a new wave of activist art taking place not only within community-based protest groups, as it has for decades, but also amongst professionally trained, MFA-bearing art practitioners, many of whom, by choice or by circumstance, refuse to respect the conventional borders separating painting from protest, or art from utility. The book explores the subtle distinction between activist forms of art and protest by artists, and proposes that contemporary activist art and art activism constitute a broader paradigm shift that reflects the crisis of contemporary capitalism.
Pages: 176
Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Series: New Directions in Contemporary Art
Publication Date: 15th September 2022
Trim Size: 13 x 20 cm
Illustrations Note: Includes 20 b&w illus
ISBN: 9781848224414
'Sholette's latest book continues to expand our understanding of the vital, inspiring, and too often dismissed relationship between art and activism. It is an infinitely valuable historical source, but most significantly it is packed with models for future resistances.' - Lucy R. Lippard, author of Get the Message? A Decade of Art for Social Change
Selected as one of The Art Newspaper's Top Art Books of 2022: 'As a key member of the activist group Gulf Labor Coalition, Gregory Sholette has a unique perspective [...] This informed analysis spans more than 60 years of art activism' - Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper
'Sholette manages to provide a well-crafted, comprehensive, and well-thought-out trajectory of western activist art that is not only deeply engaging, but maintains a critical insight and unique perspective throughout.' – Alex Nicholls, Field: A Journal of Socially-Engaged Art Criticism
'Sholette's book is a tour de force.' – We Make Money Not Art
'Sholette has focused all of his work, his teaching, his writing and his life, on confronting systems of power that, left unchecked, could destroy us all.' – Carrie Mae Weems
'Our present situation calls for an analysis of the ambiguities that prevail in art activism – and Sholette's is so acute that it should be distributed far and wide as a reminder of where we are.' – Slavoj Zizek
'The rich chapters of this indispensable book demonstrate where serious art is taking place and how it can inspire true change among other intellectual practices.' – Santiago Zabala, ICREA Research Professor of Philosophy at Pompeu Fabra University and author of Why Only Art Can Save Us and Being at Large
Gregory Sholette is an activist artist, writer and Professor of studio art at Queens College, CUNY. He has participated in, documented and written about activist art for over forty years.
1. Introduction: The Contemporary Artist as Activist: Not Just a Test; 2. 1960-1968: The Situationists' Total Critique, and Total Cure; 3. Grupo de Plasticos Argentinos de Vanguardia; 4. Escaping the Long Greenbergian Shadow; 5. 1968 and After: The Phantom Archive of Social Movement Culture; 6. 1970s: The Activist Turn in Art; 7. 1980s: Artists Respond to the Neoliberal Turn; 8. 1990s: Repurposing Situationism as Tactical Media; 9. Back to the Streets: From Tactical Media to Occupy Wall Street; 10. Institutional Critique or Cultural Abolition? 11. 2016 and After: Winter is Coming / Winter is Here; 12. Black Lives Matter: Fugitivity in Plain Sight; 13. The Contemporary Artist as Activist: Conjectures, Hauntologies, Inconclusions; Notes; Acknowledgements; Further Reading; Index
