I just finished reading the 2nd book I’ve found titled “The War of Art”. This one is written by Lauren O’Neill-Butler, and is a history of artists’ protests in America.
This would make for a great textbook; and if I were teaching American Art History, I would make it required reading for the course.
Some notes I kept while reading:
The word PARRHESIA appears on page 19.
The definition according to Wikipedia: In rhetoric, parrhesia (Greek: παρρησία) is candid speech, speaking freely.[1] It implies not only freedom of speech, but the obligation to speak the truth for the common good, even at personal risk.
Compendium: a concise yet comprehensive collection of information or analyses of a specific body of knowledge.
Page 68, there is a brief mention of an interview with Camille Billops, co-director of The Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC), where she says: “When you go within the Black art world, you find that the Black male artist is doing the same to you that the white just did to him—and yet you joined that picket line and everything with him to help him get in there.” The interview was with James Hatch, on June 2, 1973. Oral History Interview with Camille Billops (Part I). Oral history, Archives & Special Collections at the City College of New York (CCNY).
Pedantically: in a way that gives too much attention to formal rules or small details.
Page 133, artist Carrie Moyer has said ad workers helped her “realize how important graphics were to successful activism.”
Overall, a great read about how real change happens with thoughtful, organized activism, and how one organization can inspire another cause.
Christina Ann Rinaldi 