I discovered this book at the home of a Japanese friend and colleague who lives in Fukushima. Not surprisingly the cover image grabbed my eye and I spent a lot of the evening flipping though it and reading the essays. I am often skeptical of what I consider the tired predictability and limitations of “political art,” but the overview provided by this book provides a good sense of how deeply embedded in current art practice in every medium political and activist themes have become. The book is not a history, but rather a widely inclusive thematic survey.  It is also hilarious. As other reviewers have pointed out, at times it seems that work which can only be thinly associated with politics and ideological criticism has also been included. But overall the included works are heavily weighted towards works which explore and critique the vocabularies of ideology and power. Some of the works are strongly local in their concerns, while others are more inherently global.

 

Fukushima has spawned a new generation of political art practice in Japan, and a prescient editor could probably find enough intriguing work to warrant a volume on that theme.  But nevetheless, an important question whch has been raised by many critics remains: In order to be truly effective in calling attention to and challenging the injustices which form the subjects of many of these critical artworks, artists might need to become true political actors -- supporting politial parties, running for office. But in the process they would risk losing the autonomy which is the foundation of their ethical credibility. Many artists, including several in this book, have made the jump, either overtly or covertly. The artist-politician is not a new construct, but nevertheless it remains an uncomfortable one. 

 

 

There is a very informative review of “Art & Agenda” at Make Money Not Art:

http://we-make-money-not-art.com/art_agenda_political_art_and_a/

 

More information at the Gestalten bookshop online:

http://shop.gestalten.com/art-and-agenda.html

 

 

Art & Agenda: Political Art and Activism

Editors:  R. Klanten, M. Hübner, A. Bieber, P. Alonzo, G. Jansen

Release Date:  April 2011

Credits:  Texts by Pedro Alonzo, Alain Bieber, Silke Krohn

Format:  24 x 30 cm

Features:  288 pages, full color, hardcover

ISBN:  978-3-89955-342-0

 

Features work by over 100 artists including Ai Weiwei, Elmgreen & Dragset, Fernando Bryce, Gregor Schneider, Hank Willis Thomas, Jennifer Karady, Jota Castro, Marina Abramovic, Maurizio Cattelan, Milica Tomic, Paul McCarthy, Santiago Sierra, William Kentridge, and Zhang Huan, Aram Bartholl, Brad Downey, JR, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Voina Group, YesMen, and Ztohoven, and others.  Essays by Pedro Alonzo, Alain Bieber, and Silke Krohn, and Gregor Jansen.

 

                                                                                       

 

 

by Azby