Institutional Critique. An Anthology of Artists' Writings

"Institutional critique" is an artistic practice that reflects critically on its own housing in galleries and museums and on the concept and social function of art itself. Such concerns have always been a part of modern art but took on new urgency at the end of the 1960s, when--driven by the social upheaval of the time and enabled by the tools and techniques of conceptual art--institutional critique emerged as a genre. This anthology traces the development of institutional critique as an artistic concern from the 1960s to the present by gathering writings and representative art projects of artists from across Europe and throughout the Americas who developed and extended the genre. The texts and artworks included are notable for the range of perspectives and positions they reflect and for their influence in pushing the boundaries of what is meant by institutional critique. Like Alberro and Stimson's Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology, this volume will shed new light on its subject through its critical and historical framing. Even readers already familiar with institutional critique will come away from this book with a greater and often redirected understanding of its significance. Artists represented include: Wieslaw Borowski, Daniel Buren, Marcel Broodthaers, Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel, Hans Haacke, Robert Smithson, John Knight, Graciela Carnevale, Osvaldo Mateo Boglione, Guerilla Art Action Group, Art Workers' Coalition, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Michael Asher, Mel Ramsden, Adrian Piper, The Guerrilla Girls, Laibach, Silvia Kolbowski, Andrea Fraser, Fred Wilson, Mark Dion, Maria Eichhorn, Critical Art Ensemble, Bureau d'Etudes, WochenKlausur, The Yes Men, Hito Steyerl, Andreas Siekmann
"This volume performs the much needed task of mapping the multiple trajectories of artists committed to institutional critique; from their excoriation of the museum to their skepticism about the category of art, from the feminist critiques of mastery and genius to the refutation of the hegemony of whiteness by artists of color. For over four decades these artists and critics have rejoiced in anti-authoritarian strategies, and, with a profound sense of love and possibility, have bravely suggested that the idea of art, far from being timeless, demands and deserves to be renewed and reimagined over time and space."
--Helen Molesworth, Houghton Curator of Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museum
"This is a long overdue anthology that brings together a judicious selection of canonical artists' writings, while expanding this established frame to consider episodes in South America and Eastern Europe. Alberro and Stimson cover a variety of critical modalities, including the exhibition as a frame, the economic circulation of art, and approaches to audience. The final section controversially inscribes recent tactical media projects into this history as the contemporary iteration of Institutional Critique. This will be essential reading for, and generative of further criticism by, artists, curators, and art historians invested in the legacy of this practice." --Claire Bishop, CUNY Graduate Center, New York