Delirium and Resistance: Activist Art and the Crisis of Capitalism

In the aftermath of the 2016 US election, Brexit, and a global upsurge of nationalist populism, it is evident that the delirium and the crisis of neoliberal capitalism is now the delirium and crisis of liberal democracy and its culture. And though capitalist crisis does not begin within art, art can reflect and amplify its effects to positive and negative ends.

In this follow-up to his influential 2010 book, Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture, Sholette engages in critical dialogue with artists' collectives, counter-institutions, and activist groups to offer an insightful firsthand account of the relationship between politics and art in neoliberal society. Sholette lays out clear examples of art's deep involvement in capitalism: the dizzying prices achieved by artists who pander to the financial elite, the proliferation of museums that contribute to global competition between cities in order to attract capital, and the strange relationship between art and rampant gentrification that restructures the urban landscape.

With a preface by noted author Lucy R. Lippard and an introduction by theorist Kim Charnley, Delirium and Resistance draws on over thirty years of critical debates and practices both in and beyond the art world to historicize and advocate for the art activist tradition that radically--and, at times, deliriously--entangles the visual arts with political struggles.

Author: Gregory Sholette
Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
Published: 04/20/2017
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780745336848

About the Author
Gregory Sholette is a New York City-based artist, writer, and core member of the activist art collective Gulf Labor Coalition. He is coauthor of It's the Political Economy, Stupid; and Dark Matter: Art and Politics in an Age of Enterprise Culture, both also published by Pluto Press. He currently teaches in the Queens College art department at City University of New York. Kim Charnley is a UK-based art theorist and art historian whose work examines the relationship between politics and contemporary art. Lucy R. Lippard is an internationally known activist, feminist, art critic, and curator noted for her writings on contemporary art. She is the author of several books, including Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 1972, Get the Message?: A Decade of Art for Social Change, and Undermining: A Wild Ride through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West.

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