Contemporary Artists Explore Democracy's Crisis Through Performance, Public Intervention, and Collective Action
This article explores how contemporary art has reacted to the decline of democracy since 2020, focusing on artists who utilize public spaces for their critiques. In 2025, New York's Magazzino Italian Art revisited Fabio Mauri's 1971 performance 'Che cosa è il fascismo.' Avelino Sala's neon piece from 2008, 'El enemigo está adentro, dispara sobre nosotros,' warns against a Francoist monument. Maurizio Cattelan's 2016 work 'America' mocks authority, with the Guggenheim allegedly offering it to Donald Trump. Eugenio Merino created 'Monumento a los asesinados por el colonialismo español' (2023) and 'Cocina migrante' (2025). Regina José Galindo's 'ME SIENTO LIBRE (JOSÉ RUBÉN ZAMORA)' (2025) highlights issues of press freedom. The discussion also touches on art's role as a symbol of activism within wider sociopolitical frameworks.
Key facts
- Fabio Mauri's 1971 performance 'Che cosa è il fascismo' was restaged in New York in 2025 by Magazzino Italian Art.
- Avelino Sala installed a red neon text 'El enemigo está adentro, dispara sobre nosotros' on a Francoist monument in Gijón in 2008.
- Maurizio Cattelan's 2016 work 'America' is a solid gold toilet; the Guggenheim Museum New York reportedly offered it to President Donald Trump.
- Eugenio Merino created 'Monumento a los asesinados por el colonialismo español' in 2023 with a colectivo antirracista, altering a Madrid colonial monument.
- Eugenio Merino and Pierre Valls launched 'Cocina migrante' in 2025, a food truck providing free meals to Venezuelan migrants in Colombia.
- Regina José Galindo performed 'ME SIENTO LIBRE (JOSÉ RUBÉN ZAMORA)' in 2025 at the 24 Bienal de Arte Paiz, curated by Eugenio Viola.
- Eli Cortiñas's work 'The Machine Monologues' is exhibited at S.M.A.K in Gent in the show 'Resistance. The Power of The Image.',
- Valerio Rocco Orlando initiated 'Scuola dei Sassi' in 2024 in Matera, a social sculpture workshop for youth citizenship education.
Entities
Artists
- Edoardo Albinati
- Guy Debord
- Fabio Mauri
- Avelino Sala
- Maurizio Cattelan
- Eugenio Merino
- Pierre Valls
- Regina José Galindo
- Eli Cortiñas
- Valerio Rocco Orlando
- Joseph Beuys
- John Dewey
- Meredith Whittaker
- Judy Garland
- Indro Montanelli
- Federico García Lorca
- José Rubén Zamora
Institutions
- Magazzino Italian Art
- Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
- Guggenheim Museum New York
- Colectivo Democracia
- S.M.A.K
- 24 Bienal de Arte Paiz
- Teatro Quarticciolo
- Non Una di Meno
- Ultima Generación
- colectivo antirracista
- Artribune
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Gijón
- Spain
- Porto
- Portugal
- Madrid
- Colombia
- Venezuela
- Guatemala
- Gent
- Belgium
- Berlin
- Germany
- Rome
- Italy
- Matera
- Quarticciolo