Culture War by Alexander Adams

Culture War by Alexander Adams

Why has identity become so central to judging art today? Why are some groups reluctant to defend free speech within culture? Has state support made artists poorer not richer? How does the movement for social justice influence cultural production? Why is post-modernism dominant in the art world? Why are consumers of comic books so bitterly divided?

In Culture War: Art, Identity Politics and Cultural Entryism Alexander Adams examines a series of pressing issues in today's culture: censorship, Islamism, Feminism, identity politics, historical reparations and public arts policy. Through a series of linked essays, Culture War exposes connections between seemingly unrelated events and trends in high and popular cultures. From fine art to superhero comics, from political cartoons to museum policy, certain persistent ideas underpin the most contentious issues today. Adams draws on history, philosophy, politics and cultural criticism to explain the reasoning of creators, consumers and critics and to expose some uncomfortable truths.

Alexander Adams is a British artist and writer. He studied fine art and history of art at Goldsmiths College, London. His art has been exhibited worldwide and is in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), National Museum (Cardiff), Walker Art Gallery (Liverpool) and other museums. His art criticism has been published in The Burlington Magazine, The Art Newspaper, Sculpture Journal, The Jackdaw, The British Art Journal, Apollo, Printmaking Today, Print Quarterly and other outlets. His poetry has been published in anthologies, broadsides and single-author volumes in the UK and USA. He was artist-in-residence at the Albers Foundation, Connecticut, in 2011. Alexander Adams is the recipient of the 2018 Artist Scholarship from the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation, Monaco. He lives in England.