By Terry Fairman, originally published in the UK by a-n Magazine.
Every age rewrites its history in its own image. Each age produces art that reflects that image, whether consciously or not.
When power and patronage are in the same hands then social, religious or political agendas are clear, from Medici Popes to twentieth-century totalitarian regimes. Today, the link is less obvious and often a matter of contention amongst art historians – for example, the extent to which the Land Art movement in the final quarter of the last century – or perhaps that should read, the last quarter of the final century – was a response to the environmental crisis pointed up by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.
Commissioned art can often tell us what mattered to the chattering classes in any given period. There is a long history of a strong and productive association between the art community and Amnesty International reflecting the importance placed on human freedom in the period after World War II. We demand of our artists that they respond to present dangers. Criticism of the recent exhibitions of contemporary American art in London, at the Serpentine gallery and the Royal Academy, has commonly focused on the failure of American artists to respond effectively to post 9/11. [More...]
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Posted by Rob Maguire on June 28, 2007 in
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