This week, we are taking a leap from the Depression Era that saw an expansion of federal funding of the arts, as well as support from wealthy philanthropists such as Edsel Ford and Nelson Rockefeller [see Task Sheet #6], to the post-WWII era and protest movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The 1950s saw a recovery of the economy, an explosion in consumerism, and an expansion of the mass media with the introduction of the television, tabloids, advertisements, billboards, neon signs, etc. Further, the cultural landscape, art, film, fashion, etc., flourished under John F. Kennedy’s early 1960s presidency.
ART/ARTH/BUS 334: THE BUSINESS OF ART TASK SHEET # 7/MODULE: WEEK 7 : LEAVING THE MARKET: PROTEST ART, 1970S
DUE DATE: Monday, March 11, by 9:00 pm! Please submit in Canvas, “Assignments,” only! Note: This task sheet has 5 PARTS to select from. Please complete all tasks in THREE PARTS! ONLY submit Task Sheets that are complete (see above) and based on the assigned readings and videos!
READINGS [ALL READINGS CAN BE ACCESSED VIA MODULE: WEEK 7] N. Lampert: A People’s Art History of the United States (Ch. 21, 22 and 23) Ricardo Chavez: “An Institutional Defense Mechanism […],” in: Rutgers Art Review (Vol. 38): https://rar.rutgers.edu/an-institutional-defensive-mechanism-how-the-museum-of-modern-art-institutionalized- critique-by-ricardo-chavez/ [trigger warning for violent imagery!] Olivia Waxman: “Behind the Photo: How John Lennon and Yoko Ono Came Up With the Idea of Their Bed-In for Peace,” in: Time, March 2019:https://time.com/5557089/lennon-ono-bed-in/ For Videos: Please see Module: Week 7 and individual sections below.
INTRODUCTION This week, we are taking a leap from the Depression Era that saw an expansion of federal funding of the arts, as well as support from wealthy philanthropists such as Edsel Ford and Nelson Rockefeller [see Task Sheet #6], to the post-WWII era and protest movements of the 1960s and 1970s. The 1950s saw a recovery of the economy, an explosion in consumerism, and an expansion of the mass media with the introduction of the television, tabloids, advertisements, billboards, neon signs, etc. Further, the cultural landscape, art, film, fashion, etc., flourished under John F. Kennedy’s early 1960s presidency.
However, rising racial tensions and continuing injustices, inequality, as well as increasing opposition to US involvement in the Vietnam War, changed trust in the US government and social, political and cultural structures and institutions. The 1960s and 1970s became turbulent decades in US-American history, as they were marked by protest and social justice movements, including the continuing Civil Rights Movement, the Red Power Movement, the Chicano Movement, the Black Power Movement, the Student Movement, the Anti-Vietnam War Movement, as well as the Women’s Liberation Movement, forming throughout the 1960s and lasting into the 1970s. Many artists at the time became political activists, boycotting mainstream art institutions and/or protesting their exclusion from them.
INTRO FOR PART I AND II: ART AGAINST WAR AND THE ANTI-VIETNAM WAR MOVEMENT In the late 1960s and early 1970s, at the height of the anti Vietnam War protests, many artists joined the movement and formed collectives or organized exhibitions, as well as vocalized criticism and protested against museums for their complicit role in supporting the war. Especially large museums such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC were targeted, as board members supported President Nixon’s war efforts. Artists were opposed to the mass casualties on all sides and reacted to atrocities perpetrated by US soldiers in Vietnam, in particular the My Lai Massacre, the torture and mass murder of unarmed civilians in South Vietnam committed by US Army personnel in March 1968.
PART I: THE ART WORKERS’ COALITION PROTEST AT MOMA: “AND BABIES?”
A key organization was the Art Workers’ Coalition (AWC), a group of visual artists, filmmakers, writers, critics, and museum staff that formed in NYC in 1969 in order to pressure the city’s museums into implementing economic and political reforms, such as an open and less exclusive exhibition policy concerning the artists they exhibited and promoted. The absence of women artists and artists of color was a principal issue of contention, which led to the formation of Women Artists in Revolution (WAR) in 1969. AWC also pressured and picketed museums into taking a moral stance on the Vietnam War, resulting in its famous My Lai poster And babies used in a protest at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), NYC.
https://rar.rutgers.edu/an-institutional-defensive-mechanism-how-the-museum-of-modern-
https://time.com/5557089/lennon-ono-bed-in/
YOUR TASKS FOR PART I Read: Ricardo Chavez: “An Institutional Defense Mechanism: How the Museum of Modern Art Institutionalized Critique,” in: Rutgers Art Review (Vol. 38): https://rar.rutgers.edu/an-institutional-defensive-mechanism-how-the-museum-of-modern-art-institutionalized- critique-by-ricardo-chavez/ [trigger warning for violent imagery!]
Please answer the following in c. 4-8 sentences EACH about the AWC’s protest at the MoMA: 1) Explain some of the main points made by author Ricardo Chavez in his text above. 2) By what means did the artists of the AWC put pressure on MoMA’s board members to take a moral stance against the Vietnam War? 3) How did the AWC’s critique of MoMA expose the complexities of the artist-museum relationship?
P ART I I: YOKO ONO AND JOHN LENNON: BED-INS FOR PEACE
While John Lennon was a member of the famous The Beatles band, Japanese-born artist Yoko Ono became an important member of the NYC avant-garde, in particular the Fluxus Movement. She became well-known for her conceptual Instruction Paintings, as well as daring performances, such as Cut Piece which she performed in 1964/65. Esp. artworks and performances Ono created with her third and late husband Lennon (m. 1969-1980) addressed the ongoing Vietnam War and advocated for peace.
Y OUR TASKS FOR PART II Read: Olivia Waxman: “Behind the Photo: How John Lennon and Yoko Ono Came Up With the Idea of Their Bed-In for Peace,” in: Time, March 2019:https://time.com/5557089/lennon-ono-bed-in/
Please answer the following in c. 3-6 sentences EACH about the Bed-Ins for Peace: 1) Explain the main points made by author Olivia Waxman in her text above [see also the video]. 2) Briefly describe the Bed-Ins for Peace performed by Ono and Lennon. 3) Explain Ono’s self-criticism regarding the Bed-Ins for Peace later in her life.
PART III: ART IN THE BLACK POWER ERA AND BEYOND, 1960S TO 1980S The Black Power Movement forming in the mid-1960s emphasized racial pride, empowerment, justice, and the creation of political and cultural institutions for African American people in the US. The movement grew out of the Civil Rights Movement, and it promoted forms of self-advocacy ranging from political lobbying to armed struggle. The Black Panther Party and its views are widely seen as the cornerstone of the Black Power Movement. By the 1960s, decades of racial injustices, discrimination, economic deprivation, and political disenfranchisement resulted in Race Riots in cities across the US. Art created during this time and beyond chronicled racism and social conditions, recounted history, and emphasized racial pride and empowerment. One key artist is Faith Ringgold (1930-), a prominent Harlem-born artist and political activist, who has dedicated her art and struggle to social justice and the advancement of women and African-Americans. Her art expresses a Black female point of view about history, civil rights, the Black Power Era and beyond. Ringgold formed Women, Students and Artists for Black Art Liberation (WSABAL) and Where We At organization in 1971, the latter exclusively for Black women artists. Ringgold became widely known for her American People Series of the 1960s, as well as her elaborate, large-scale Story Quilts of the 1980s and 1990s.
YOUR TASKS FOR PART III Read: Yolanda López/Moira Roth: “Social Protest: Racism and Sexism” Watch either video below: Video: Soul of A Nation: Art In The Age of Black Power 1963-83 at The Broad (in 2019) [critical video review of the exhibition]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcx89svQxIM Video: Faith Ringgold: The Last Story Quilt
https://rar.rutgers.edu/an-institutional-defensive-mechanism-how-the-museum-of-modern-
https://time.com/5557089/lennon-ono-bed-in/
Please answer the following questions: 1) Select EITHER of the videos and summarize the main points in an 8 to 10-sentence paragraph. 2) Explain how art by Black artists helped advocate for African Americans in the 1960s/70s. 3) Please add your own reflections.
PART IV: ASCO , PERFORMANCE ART, AND THE CHICANO MOVEMENT Chicano Movement, as it was referred to in the 1960s, encompassed a broad cross section of issues, from restoration of land grants in New Mexico, to farm workers rights and improved working and living conditions, to enhanced education, voting and political rights, as well as cultural self-definition and identity. Especially important were the farm workers organizing in California under Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, forming the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee. Their goal was to achieve farm workers’ self determination, using strikes, boycotts, pilgrimages, and fasts, and a commitment to nonviolence and the importance of faith and prayer. A major element was Chicanx Art fueled by political activism and cultural pride. Chicanx visual arts, music, literature, dance, theater and other forms of expression developed into a full-scale in the 1960s and 1970s.
Asco was an East Los Angeles based Chicano/a art collective, active from 1971 to 1987. Asco adopted its name as a collective in 1973, making a direct reference to the word’s meaning in Spanish (“asco”), which means disgust or repulsion. Asco’s work throughout the 1970s and 1980s addressed socioeconomic and political problems surrounding the Chicanx community, as well as the Vietnam War. [Core members: Harry Gamboa, Glugio “Gronk” Nicandro, Willie Herrón, Patsi Valdez]
YOUR TASKS FOR PART IV Read: Lampert: A People’s Art History of the United States (Ch. 23).
Please answer the following questions in 4-6 sentences EACH: 1) Please select one of their public performances or Walking Murals and briefly describe it. 2) Explain what political circumstances led to Asco’s more radical public artworks. 3) Why did Asco choose to use the public sphere for their performances and Walking Murals? 4) Why was Asco “snubbed” by a curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)?
PART V: WOMEN’S ART MOVEMENT The Women’s Liberation Movement in the US emerged in the late 1960s amid the fervor of American anti-war demonstrations and burgeoning gender, civil, and queer rights movements. The Women’s Art Movement focused on gaining access to established art institution, calling attention to inequality and under-representation by picketing in front of major museums or using more radical measures such as leaving eggs and tampons on gallery floors. Women also formed alternative exhibition venues, studio and training spaces, and art publications. Several collaborative artworks and exhibitions came out of the Women’s Art Movement on the West Coast, connecting art and activism in order to create public awareness for women’s experiences, issues, and dangers.
YOUR TASK S FOR PART V Read: N. Lampert: A People’s Art History of the United States (Ch. 21&22)
Please select ONE of the artworks/performances/exhibitions below and describe it briefly. Then explain how art and activism were connected in order to create awareness for women’s experiences:
1. Womanhouse, 1972, considered the first feminist art exhibition, various room installations and performances temporarily shown in a converted mansion in Hollywood (select one or two).
2. Suzanne Lacy/Leslie Labowitz: In Mourning and In Rage, 1977, L. A. (public protest and performance) 3. Suzanne Lacy and Collaborators: Three Weeks in May, Los Angeles, 1977 4. Terry Wolverton (dir.): An Oral Herstory of Lesbianism, Los Angeles, 1979
Art/ARTH/BUS 334: THE BUSINESS OF ART
TASK SHEET #7/MODULE: WEEK 7: LEAVING THE MARKET: PROTEST ART, 1970S
INTRO FOR PART I AND II: Art Against War AND the Anti-Vietnam War Movement
PART I: The Art Workers’ Coalition Protest at MoMA: “And babies?”
PART II: Yoko Ono and John Lennon: Bed-Ins for Peace
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