Delirium and resistance : activist art and the crisis of capitalism

Capitalist crisis does not begin within art, but, as Gregory Sholette argues in Delirium and Resistance, art can reflect and amplify their ideas. 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. 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.