“Capitalists work hard to produce what consumers want. Artists who work too hard to produce what consumers want are often accused of selling out. Thus, even the languages of capitalism and art conflict: a firm that has 'sold out' has succeeded, but an artist that has 'sold out' has failed.” WantArtHardArtistLanguageProduceHard WorkConflictCapitalismSellingConsumersFirmCapitalistAccusedSelling OutSold Out Author:Alex Tabarrok
“Warhol came from an ordinary family and he had a profound understanding about capitalism and material culture. He was probably one of the few Western artists - or artists from the United States - that could be considered a true product of his time and brought out that kind of spirit of the culture.” KindStatesSpiritArtistCultureUnderstandingUnitedUnited StatesMaterialsProductsOrdinaryCapitalismProfoundWesternWarhol Author:Ai Weiwei
“As a political activist you run the risk of having to settle for one compromise or another in order to achieve your goals. Artists face the obvious accusation of elitism. The fundamental principle of my work is that it critiques capitalism in very specific ways. I am not interested in generalized political rhetoric. Instead of "aestheticizing" political issues, I try to challenge ingrained perspectives.” TryingRunningPoliticalArtistGoalChallengesRiskAchievePerspectiveCapitalismObviousCompromiseSettlingActivistNot InterestedRhetoricCritiqueAccusationElitism Author:Josephine Meckseper
“All existing art was religious until perhaps a hundred years ago. Within that there's obviously been lots of room for manipulation. I think that's because our current religion is capitalism. Capitalism has the functions of patronage, commissions, control of content, bestowing of space, elevation of certain artists over others based on how much they pander to people in power, the determination of value of the work, all of it. Capitalism commissions artwork now, the market.” PeopleThinkingArtArtistValuesReligiousCapitalismDeterminationManipulation Author:Chitra Ganesh
“It's high time for the art world to admit that the avant-garde is dead. It was killed by my hero, Andy Warhol, who incorporated into his art all the gaudy commercial imagery of capitalism (like Campbell's soup cans) that most artists had stubbornly scorned.” WorldArtArtistHeroCapitalismSoupImageryMy HeroArt WorldAvant GardeWarholScornedGaudy Author:Camille Paglia
“The impulse to acquisition, pursuit of gain, of money, of the greatest possible amount of money, has in itself nothing to do with capitalism. This impulse exists and has existed among waiters, physicians, coachmen, artists, prostitutes, dishonest officials, soldiers, nobles, crusaders, gamblers, and beggars.” ArtistAmountCapitalismGainsSoldierPursuitImpulseOfficialsPhysiciansBeggarAcquisitionWaiter Author:Max Weber
“Everything Brecht wrote—plays, dialogues, and poetry—was his attempt to clarify the inner contradictions not only of the capitalism and fascism of his times, but also of the communism that was always disappointing his deepest hopes. In a book that makes Brecht’s struggle to reveal these hidden contradictions its central theme, Glahn issues, by implication, a call to arms to today’s artists—who are faced with a world that seems to defy attempts to treat the global crisis with an art that is rarely more than notes on ‘local’ angst.” WorldArtBookPlaySeemsTodayArtistStruggleIssuesArmsCapitalismTreatsCrisisNotesLocalsDialogueCommunismThemeContradictionFascismImplicationsAngstDisappointingBrecht Author:Richard Foreman