In the aftermath of the 2016 US elections, 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.

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 the author of It’s The Political Economy, Stupid, co-edited with Oliver Ressler (Pluto, 2013), and Dark Matter: Art and Politics in an Age of Enterprise Culture (Pluto, 2010). He currently teaches in the Queens College Art Department, 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 activist, feminist, art critic and curator noted for her many articles and books on contemporary art including Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object (1973) and Get the Message: A Decade of Art for Social Change (1984).