Synopses & Reviews
and#147;It stands to reason that art works are made by art workers, but in this searching account of artistic labor in the 1960s and 1970s, Julia Bryan-Wilson shows us that reason is supplanted by ambivalence and ambiguity as artists grappled with the massive upheavals wrought by feminism, the student movement, and the Vietnam War. The art made in the wake of these social transformations toggles between reform and revolution, and the definition of 'artist' has not been the same since.and#8221;and#151;Helen Molesworth, Houghton Curator of Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museum
and#147;In this engaging history of the Art Workers' Coalition, Julia Bryan-Wilson considers the dilemmas and contradictions as well as the artistic innovation and activism that resulted when 'artist' and 'worker' were brought into conjunction at a volatile moment in the late 1960s. Carl Andre in blue coveralls, Robert Morris driving a forklift, Hans Haacke polling gallery-goers, Lucy Lippard delivering her art reviews right after delivering her babyand#151;to such iconic images and moments Bryan-Wilson brings her thorough scholarship and keen analysis.and#8221;and#151;Douglas Crimp, author of On the Museum's Ruins
and#147;In Julia Bryan-Wilson's deeply researched and insightful Art Workers, episodes that had seemed familiar and safely filed away take on a new narrative drive, a more profound salience for contemporary art practice, and a greater weight in our historical understanding of a crucial period.and#8221;and#151;Thomas Crow, author of The Rise of the Sixties: American and European Art in the Era of Dissent
and#147;This brilliant, vital, and timely study opens up a view of 1960s and 1970s American art that we didn't know we needed until we had it. One by one, the remarkably perceptive chapters of Bryan-Wilson's book converge to form a volume in the best tradition of the intellectual and interdisciplinary freedoms that remain the chief legacy of the period. The political lives of makers and objects have a new champion in Bryan-Wilson.and#8221;and#151;Darby English, author of How to See A Work of Art in Total Darkness
Review
and#8220;Of immediate, practical value to young artists today who want to re-establish art as an alternative place in the culture, though her clean prose will also make the book inviting to more casual readers.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;[A] smart new study. . . . Bryan-Wilson applies her numerous insights with care.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A vivid picture of artistic activism, essential both for the art history of the 1960s and for todayand#8217;s discourse on art and politics.and#8221;
Review
"Superior study.... highly recommended"
Review
and#8220;Tackles the political self-identification of artists with aplomb.and#8221;
Review
"Superior study.... highly recommended" Artforum
Review
“Tackles the political self-identification of artists with aplomb.” Choice
Review
“Highly recommended.” Art Journal (CAA)
Review
and#8220;An extremely nuanced reading of the seminal companyand#8217;s comedy output. . . . Reinvigorates leftist critiques of the American film industry.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Highly recommended.and#8221;
Synopsis
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, in response to the political turbulence generated by the Vietnam War, an important group of American artists and critics sought to expand the definition of creative labor by identifying themselves as and#147;art workers.and#8221; In the first book to examine this movement, Julia Bryan-Wilson shows how a polemical redefinition of artistic labor played a central role in minimalism, process art, feminist criticism, and conceptualism. In her close examination of four seminal figures of the periodand#151;American artists Carl Andre, Robert Morris, and Hans Haacke, and art critic Lucy Lippardand#151;Bryan-Wilson frames an engrossing new argument around the double entendre that and#147;art works.and#8221; She traces the divergent ways in which these four artists and writers rallied around the and#147;art workerand#8221; identity, including participating in the Art Workers' Coalitionand#151;a short-lived organization founded in 1969 to protest the war and agitate for artists' rightsand#151;and the New York Art Strike. By connecting social art history and theories of labor, this book illuminates the artworks and protest actions that were central to this pivotal era in both American art and politics.
A Best Book of 2009, Artforum Magazine
Synopsis
Beginning with responses to fascism in the 1930s and ending with protests against the Iraq wars, David McCarthy shows how American artistsand#151;including Philip Evergood, David Smith, H. C. Westermann, Ed Kienholz, Nancy Spero, Leon Golub, Chris Burden, Robert Arneson, Martha Rosler, and Coco Fuscoand#151;have borne witness, registered dissent, and asserted the enduring ability of imagination to uncover truths about individuals and nations. During what has been called the American Century, the United States engaged in frequent combat overseas while developing technologies of unprecedented lethality. Many artists, working collectively or individually, produced antiwar art to protest the use or threat of military violence in the service of an expansionist state. In so doing, they understood themselves to be fighting on behalf of two liberal promises: the belief that their country was the guarantor of liberty against empire, and the faith that modern art was a viable means of addressing the most compelling events and issues of the moment. For many artists, creative work was a way to participate in democratic exchange by challenging and clarifying government and media perspectives on armed conflict. Charting a seventy-five-year history of antiwar art and activism, American Artists against War, 1935and#150;2010 lucidly tracks the continuities, preoccupations, and strategies of several generations.
Synopsis
"David McCarthyand#8217;s book is an important contribution to the history of twentieth-century American political art, demonstrating the remarkable number of artists who created and curators and critics who promoted antiwar art. This text should be of broad interest to both scholars and general readers."and#151;Cand#233;cile Whiting, author of
and#160;Pop L.A.: Art and the City in the 1960s "In this dauntingly ambitious yet highly accessible book, McCarthy has accomplished something completely unique. Though many have written about art inspired by war, this is the first comprehensive attempt to contextualize it within the political history of a seventy-five-year period. Further, as the title suggests, it places a greater focus than previous works on the role of artist as citizen in time of war, thus demonstrating that creative activism has a long and proud trajectory in this country."and#151;Nina Felshin, curator, writer, activist, and editor of But Is it Art? The Spirit of Art as Activism
About the Author
David McCarthy is Professor of Art History at Rhodes College and author of The Nude in American Painting, 1950and#150;1980; Pop Art; and H. C. Westermann at War: Art and Manhood in Cold War America.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 From Artists to Art Workers
2 Carl Andreand#8217;s Work Ethic
3 Robert Morrisand#8217;s Art Strike
4 Lucy Lippardand#8217;s Feminist Labor
5 Hans Haackeand#8217;s Paperwork
Epilogue
Notes
List of Illustrations
Index