Potentially Harmful: The Art of American Censorship

by Cathy Byrd (Editor), Richard Meyer

What's too much for the public? What's too explicit, too violent, or just too unnerving? This survey of censorship from 1970 to the present outlines the history of a significant ongoing risk for contemporary artists. Its singular selection of controversial art from the last three decades assembles full-page images of works from 51 artists including Lynda Benglis, Sue Coe, Karen Finley, Eric Fischl, Robert Mapplethorpe, Dread Scott and Andres Serrano, and juxtaposes them with statements, histories of each piece and information on the context in which each work caused debate, outright censorship or the withdrawal of funding. At the same time, Potentially The Art of American Censorship offers 10 illustrated critical texts examining the history and current state of controversial art in the U.S. Insightful writing, informative reproductions and a design that reinforces the enclosed ideas will draw those looking for social and political debate as well as those interested in the making of art.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2006

Reviews

[Natalie]

provocative for the content of the installations it distills, each study gives a fair amount of cultural context to appreciate the scandal.