SINCE AT LEAST THE 1960S, THE ART world’s key tenet has been that all art is political. The purpose of artistic practice, therefore, is to change the world. In art school, art theory promotes critical trends such as decolonialism and degrowth. The exhibition programmes of public galleries and museums are as likely to focus on climate change as they are on the plight of migrant workers from the Global South. The distinction between art, art activism, and the political desires of artists has become so blurred that today, all politics can become artistic.
By the art world’s reckoning, this paradigm’s impact on the world has been almost entirely positive. Artists see themselves as society’s moral leaders. Museums are their cathedrals whose altars extol their political virtues. The industry’s international junkets,…
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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2024