Book Description

A catalogue published to accompany an exhibition of the same title at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. The exhibition and catalogue survey politically engaged art made since 2016. In response to political events and the current climate, as well as recent art world trends, the exhibition posits art making as a critical civic act. The works in the exhibition exemplify how artists act as citizens. Many of them facilitate viewers' participation, demonstrating how we, too, can engage in civic life. Works included address specific political crises, such as the opioid epidemic and Flint, Michigan's battle for a clean water supply. Others highlight specific legal issues that shape the American citizenry and society. And others simulate civic engagement in ways that distill it to its essence, transcending partisan politics.The exhibition features recent work and several new commissions by more than 30 artists and organizations: Nicole Awai, Alexandra Bell, Tania Bruguera, the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), Alex Da Corte, Jeremy Deller, Shannon Finnegan, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Nan Goldin, Ann Hamilton, Adelita Husni-Bey, Ekene Ijeoma, the Institute of Sociometry, Ariel René Jackson, Paul Ramirez Jonas, Titus Kaphar, Kenya (Robinson), Robert Longo, Alan Michelson, Marilyn Minter, Vik Muniz, Jayson Musson, Ahmet O?g?u?t, Yoko Ono, Trevor Paglen, Pope.L, Pedro Reyes, Yumi Janairo Roth, Dread Scott, Laura Shill, Aram Han Sifuentes, Rirkirt Tiravanija, and Nari Ward.