When accessing content use the numbers below to guide you:
brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)
provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.
lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)
Reference Shelf
A Brief History of Protest Art
Format magazine
How do art and protest meet? We explore acts of defiance with artists, poets and activists
TATE
Dada was a radical artistic and literary movement that was a reaction against the cultural climate that supported the First World War. But who were the dada artists and what makes them dada?
National Galleries - Run Time: 4:15 mins
Ai Weiwei - Chinese artist and activist
Britannica
Tate
Is Ai Weiwei China's Most Dangerous Man?
Smithsonian magazine
Podcast - Esther Anatolitis in conversation with collaborative artists Make or Break: Connie Anthes and Rebecca Gallo, about what happens when arts policy neglects artists.
National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
From Keith Haring to Extinction Rebellion, the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter, what does a revolution look like? What does it take to make a collective visual impact? Discover the power of words, images and much more in this analytical and thought-provoking look at protest art, by highly acclaimed artivist De Nichols.
Genius, anti-artist, charlatan, guru - impostor? Since 1914 Marcel Duchamp has been called all these. No artist of the 20th century has aroused more passion and controversy, nor exerted a greater influence on art, whose very nature Duchamp challenged and redefined as concept rather than product by questioning its traditionally privileged optical nature. At the same time, he never ceased to be engaged, openly or secretly, in provocative activities and works which transformed traditional artmaking procedures. Thirty years of research have gone into this accessible text on a complex artist. Written with the enthusiastic support of Duchamp's widow, this is one of the most original and important books ever written on this enigmatic artist, and challenges received ideas, misunderstanding and misinformation.
The author explores the work of a wide range of artists - from Marcel Duchamp and Raoul Hausmann to Max Ernst, René Magritte and Salvador Dalí - and uses paintings, collages, sculptures, assemblages, photographs, photomontages, film stills and graphics to illustrate the rich variety of Dada and Surrealist art.
What is art? Must it be a unique, saleable luxury item? Can it be a concept that never takes material form? Or an idea for a work that can be repeated endlessly? Conceptual art favours an engagement with such questions. As the variety of illustrations in this book shows, it can take many forms: photographs, videos, posters, billboards, charts, plans and, especially, language itself. Tony Godfrey has written a clear, lively and informative account of this fascinating phenomenon. He traces the origins of Conceptual art to Marcel Duchamp and the anti-art gestures of Dada, and then establishes links to those artists who emerged in the 1960s and early 1970s, whose work forms the heart of this study: Joseph Kosuth, Lawrence Weiner, Victor Burgin, Marcel Broodthaers and many others.
Modern and contemporary art can be both baffling and beautiful; it can also be innovative, political, and disturbing. This book sets out to provide the first concise interpretation of the period as a whole, clarifying the artists and their works along the way. Closely informed by new critical approaches, it concentrates on the relationship between American and European art from the end of the Second World War to the eve of the new millennium.
References
Anatolitis, E. (Host). (n.d.). Episode 45: Make or Break [Audio Podcast]. In NAVA in Conversation. https://visualarts.net.au/podcasts/episode-45-make-or-break/
Cuddon, S. and Cassam, A. (Hosts). (2018, September 26). The Art of Protest [Audio Podcast]. Tate. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jeremy-deller-3034/art-protest
Cunningham, J. M. (2020, August 27). Ai Weiwei. In Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ai-Weiwei
Davis, C. (2020, May 13). Dadaism: 10 Iconic Artworks from the Dada Art Movement. The Collector. https://www.thecollector.com/dadaism-art-of-dada/
Gallo, R. (n.d.). Make or Break. http://www.rebeccagallo.com.au/make-or-break
Jan Murphy Gallery. (n.d.). Ben Quilty Works. https://www.janmurphygallery.com.au/artist/ben-quilty/
Lewis, T. (2020, March 22). Ai Weiwei: ‘An artist must be an activist’. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/mar/22/ai-weiwei-an-artist-must-be-an-activist
MacFarlane, R. (2017, March 8). A Brief History of Protest Art. Format magazine. https://www.format.com/magazine/features/art/brief-history-protest-art
MOMA. (n.d.). Dada. https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/dada/
MOMA. (n.d.). Marcel Duchamp and the Readymade. https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/dada/marcel-duchamp-and-the-readymade/
National Galleries. (2019, May 29). What is Dada? Art Movements & Styles [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ABNwtDyx7T4
NSW Department of Education. (n.d.). Visual Arts – The frames. https://schoolsequella.det.nsw.edu.au/file/5ef2cf0a-d8c1-44ba-987b-c048ccd376b8/1/the-frames.pdf
Raschke, J. (2019, September 23). Ben Quilty is an artist activist. Dumbo Feather. https://www.dumbofeather.com/conversations/ben-quilty-is-an-artist-activist/
Rosenthal, N. (2004, October). Marcel Duchamp (1887 – 1968). The Met Museum. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/duch/hd_duch.htm
Slade, L. (n.d.). Artist Profile : Ben Quilty. Museum of Contemporary Art. https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/artists/ben-quilty/
Stevens, M. (2012, September). Is Ai Weiwei China’s Most Dangerous Man? Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/is-ai-weiwei-chinas-most-dangerous-man-17989316/
TATE. (n.d.). Ai Weiwei. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ai-weiwei-8208
TATE. (n.d.). Art Term – Dada. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/d/dada
TATE. (n.d.). Marcel Duchamp. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/marcel-duchamp-1036
Trachtman, P. (2006, May). A Brief History of Dada. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/dada-115169154/
Cover image credits
BP Miller. (2020, August 8). [Clenched fist illustration] [Photogrpah]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/yZZEWg6xQ68
