In the Belly of the Beast: Art & Language New York Project 1972-1978, is a survey of the tumultuous years that brought together Conceptual art and political activism in mid-1970s New York.
Artists have always experimented with politics, either by organizing themselves or uniting in support of a broader political movement. Today, “activist art” is taught in universities, supported by foundations, and featured in museums and international exhibitions. Is this the best path forward for politically conscious artists?
In the Belly of the Beast recounts the markedly different course charted by some politically engaged artists in New York. It is the story of artists coming to terms with the internal contradictions and paradoxes of their class position. The result was a clash between those wishing to continue working within the boundaries of the artworld and those intent on establishing new ideological and class relationships with activists to build a political party.
During the 1970s in New York, the Art & Language collective pioneered institutional critique, published a Marxist-influenced journal — The Fox, agitated against racism and sexism in museums, challenged the cultural imperialism of international exhibitions of art, and forged a framework for a socialist organization of artists.
This new edition of In the Belly of the Beast includes previously unpublished documents illuminating the debates that lay at the center of the organization and practices of Art & Language in New York and other left-wing groups mobilizing artists, like the Anti-Imperialist Cultural Union and Artists Meeting for Cultural Change.
The second edition of In the Belly of the Beast features an extensive interview with Michael Corris, who edited and annotated this collection of documents and ephemera from the period.
For orders outside the USA, visit the Rab-Rab Press website: https://www.rabrab.net/titles/beast
For orders within the USA, this title will be available soon through Printed Matter, Inc., New York, NY (https://www.printedmatter.org/)
Michael Corris 