The War of Art

Artists in America have long battled against injustices, believing that art can in fact "do more." The War of Art tells this history of artist-led activism and the global political and aesthetic debates of the 1960s to the present. In contrast to the financialized art market and celebrity artists, the book explores the power of collective effort - from protesting to philanthropy, and from wheat pasting to planting a field of wheat.

Lauren O'Neill-Butler charts the post-war development of artists' protest and connects these struggles to a long tradition of feminism and civil rights activism. The book offers portraits of the key individuals and groups of artists who have campaigned for solidarity, housing, LGBTQ+, HIV/AIDS awareness, and against Indigenous injustice and the exclusion of women in the art world. This includes: the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC), Women Artists in Revolution (WAR), David Wojnarowicz's work with ACT UP, Top Value Television (TVTV), Agnes Denes, Edgar Heap of Birds, Dyke Action Machine! (DAM!), fierce pussy, Project Row Houses, and Nan Goldin's Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN).

Based upon in-depth oral histories with the key figures in these movements, and illustrated throughout, The War of Art is an essential corrective to the idea that art history excludes politics.

Allows us to see the historical moment we live in through the lens of past struggles. It is a much-needed inquiry into the tremendous possibilities of art then and now to engender powerful social transformation. -- Eva Díaz, Professor of the History of Art and Design, Pratt Institute.
A wonderfully smart, readable and informative study of a topic that matters to almost everyone interested in art, which is more than enough to recommend it. But gems like the luminous chapter on Agnes Denes and the eye-opening revisionary discussion of her relation to Smithson make it something even better-essential reading. -- Walter Benn Michaels, author of The Shape of the Signifier
In a deft and engaging account of artist-led activism in the us since the 1960s, Lauren O'Neill-Butler makes the case that artists bring something unique to struggles for social justice, alongside their passion and righteous anger: creativity. A necessary book as we find new ways to organize and resist. -- Julia Bryan-Wilson, professor of LGBTQ+ art history, Columbia university
[The War of Art] explores the interplay of activism and art in these thought-provoking case studies.O'Neill-Butler succeeds in cataloging the broad array of strategies artists have used to agitate for change, and she offers measured critiques of their works, which often reflected positions of privilege. Art historians will find much to chew on here. Publishers Weekly
Invoking Sun Tzu's The Art of War, O'Neill-Butler explores the subversive, surprising, and often brilliant tactics of artists fighting for social change.A rare behind-the-scenes look at artist/activists who took on the AIDS crisis, police brutality, and art-world elitism. Kirkus Reviews

LAUREN O'NEILL-BUTLER is a writer and editor. Her first book, Let's Have a Talk: Conversations with Women on Art and Culture, features nearly ninety interviews. A former Senior Editor at Artforum, she has also contributed to Aperture, Art Journal, and the New York Times. In 2020, she received an Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant.

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