The Washington Post - "What can artists do when the world turns ugly?"

With references to historical events and responses from the art world, Art and Architecture critic Philip Kennicott addresses the reactions, roles and potential responsibilities of those in the art community when the world turns "ugly."

An excerpt:  "Many artists today are horrified by the current state of political affairs, the election of Donald Trump, the rise and mainstreaming of racist, misogynist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, and the assembly of a cabinet of billionaires whose commitment to the public weal is unknown and deeply distrusted. But if there is collective outrage at what has happened, there is anything but a unified response. Should art be a weapon of mass resistance? Should artists embrace politics and wield the blunt weapons of satire, caricature and scorn? Or, at the far end of the temperamental spectrum, should they preserve the artistic impulse — underscoring complexity and refinement — unsullied by the low and grotesque values that now dominate the social discourse?"

 What can artists do?

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