There is a common perception in the arts today that overtly
activist art-often seen to sacrifice an aesthetic pleasure for a
subversive one-is no longer in fashion. In bringing together
sixteen of the most important essays on activist and
community-based art from the pages of Afterimage-one of the most
influential journals in the media and visual arts fields for more
than twenty-five years-Grant H. Kester demonstrates that activist
art, far from being antithetical to the true meaning of the
aesthetic, can be its most legitimate expression. Forging a style
of criticism where aesthetic, critical, theoretical, and activist
concerns converge, Afterimage has shaped American debates around
the politics of visual production and arts education while offering
a voice to politically involved artists and scholars. Art,
Activism, and Oppositionality insists not only on the continuing
relevance of an activist stance to contemporary art practice and
criticism, but also on the significance of an engaged art practice
that is aligned with social or political activism. With essays that
span fifteen years-roughly from Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential
win to the 1994 Republican victories in Congress, a period marked
by waning public support for the arts and growing antagonism toward
activist art-Art, Activism, and Oppositionality confronts issues
ranging from arts patronage, pedagogy, and the very definitions of
art and activism to struggles involving AIDS, reproductive rights,
sexuality, and racial identity. Contributors. Maurice Berger,
Richard Bolton, Ann Cvetkovich, Coco Fusco, Brian Goldfarb, Mable
Haddock, Grant H. Kester, Ioannis Mookas, Chiquita Mullins Lee,
Darrell Moore, Lorraine O'Grady, Michael Renov, Martha Rosler,
Patricia Thomson, David Trend, Charles A. Wright Jr., Patricia R.
Zimmerman
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