Anthony Downey's 'Art and Politics Now' Analyzes 15 Years of Socioeconomic Artworks

Anthony Downey's 2015 publication 'Art and Politics Now' examines political artworks from the previous 15 years, grouping analysis under 11 thematic chapters including 'Globalisation', 'Labour', 'Terror', and 'Economies'. The book features over 200 artworks, with examples including Ai Weiwei's 2010 installation Sunflower Seeds, Theaster Gates's 2009 urban regeneration project Dorchester Projects, and Regina José Galindo's 2003 performance Who Can Erase the Footprints? protesting Guatemalan presidential candidate José Efraín Ríos Montt. Downey's analysis contextualizes diverse artistic approaches within a concise format, making the volume both a useful reference and engaging read. Design elements include the ZXX typeface—created to disrupt text-scanning software—for chapter headings and acid-yellow pages reminiscent of attention-grabbing flyers. The book concludes with Trevor Paglen's 2012 project The Last Pictures, which involved etching 100 images onto a disk designed to survive billions of years before being attached to a satellite and launched into orbit. These images highlight global issues addressed by artists throughout the publication. Originally appearing in ArtReview Asia's Spring 2015 issue, the work provides an accessible overview of how contemporary artists engage with socioeconomic concerns through varied mediums and approaches.