Exhibition as Social Intervention: ‘Culture in Action’ 1993

A show challenging conventional understandings of public art, ‘Culture in Action’ in Chicago had a new social agenda, and reworked what an exhibition of contemporary art might be. Through eight projects by artists, initiated in the early 1990s and developed in collaboration with local people, the intention was to engage diverse groups over time, in addition to the visiting public in 1993. In the fifth book in Afterall’s Exhibition Histories series, the course of these projects is illustrated and described, with critical reappraisal of this important exhibition in newly commissioned essays and interviews. In the core text, Joshua Decter reflects on how we might evaluate this controversial curatorial project now. Critical responses and reviews from the time reflect the contemporaneous reception, and a new essay by Helmut Draxler elaborates on the expanded context for art-making and display in those years, bringing European perspectives to bear. The introduction by David Morris and Paul O’Neill frames the whole, which further includes contemporary responses from the curator and three of the participating artists.