Art and Politics: A Small History of Art for Social Change Since 1945

Claudia Mesch

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848851103 ISBN 13: 9781848851108

Publisher: I.B.Tauris, 2013

What makes a piece of art 'political'? Can art catalyze political change? By exploring how art is used by politics and politics by art- from the postwar works of Pablo Picasso and Alexander Deineka to the Border Film Project- Claudia Mesch considers how artists have engaged with major political movements. While emphasizing Western practices, Art and Politics also takes important global developments into account, including the practices of Lebanese artists Joana Hadjihomas and Khalil Joreige, the visual art of Iranian practitioner Shirin Neshat, and the rise to prominence of post-colonialist art in Africa. This book will challenge its readers to consider often devalued and marginalized political artworks as a proper part of the history of modern and contemporary art.

Product Description:

Rare Book

Review:

Whosoever wants to get a great overview and detailed information about art and politics should read Claudia Mesch's book. It gives sound information on the art of the twentieth century and the major artists that contributed to this important aspect of art, in a time when most artists today only produce pleasing art.

Salomé (W. Cihlarz) painter, sculptor, and punk singer

Art and Politics' is a succinct history of political art that recovers important, marginalized artists. But more, it conveys the continuing need for art that reconfigures, regroups, and redirects the collective, and as such is a great resource for practicing artists. --Delinda Collier, Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.