Protest Art

A new volume in the Art Essentials series. An essential guide to how the power of art has been harnessed to achieve political change in the modern world, from the struggle for universal suffrage to Black Lives Matter.

From revolts against colonialism to campaigns for nuclear disarmament, from suffragettes to Black Lives Matter, art has always been a powerful tool for subverting the status quo. This volume illustrates the countless ways in which art and politics have intertwined in the 20th and 21st centuries, considering a wide range of artistic initiatives, including performance and street art, banners and digital media, sculpture and painting. In nine thematic chapters, Jessica Lack explores the relationship between art and media, institutions and the state, and activists’ use of art as a weapon, as a tool, or as a way to imagine a different world.

The most important works of art, the most incisive campaigns, and the most influential movements are analyzed in their relevant social and political contexts, highlighting the networks of solidarity, inspiration, and cooperation that remain fundamental to both protest and artistic creation. This book, with its stunning images and thorough research, offers an accessible introduction to the vast and turbulent field of protest art from the early 20th century onward.

FROM THE SAME SERIES
MODERN ART – ISBN 9788866486510
SURREALISM – ISBN 9788866486503
STREET ART – ISBN 9788866486077
PHOTOGRAPHY – ISBN 9788866485520
THE SELF-PORTRAIT – ISBN 9788866485261
SYMBOLS OF ART – ISBN 9788866484578
UNDERSTANDING ART – ISBN 9788866485537
WOMEN IN ART – ISBN 9788866484394
50 MOMENTS THAT CHANGED ART – ISBN 9788866484400
HOW TO LOOK AT A PAINTING – ISBN 9788866486145
IMPRESSIONISM – ISBN 9788866486152
AFRICAN ART HISTORY – ISBN 9788866486978

AUTHOR
JESSICALACK – Writer specializing in modern and contemporary art. She has been an art correspondent for the Guardian.