Art and Power Exam

The Belvedere Torso

1st century BCE, Apollonios of Athens, Vatican Museums, Rome

Mr and Mrs Andrews

1750, Thomas Gainsborough, National Gallery, London

Bathers at Asnières

1884, Georges Seurat, National Gallery, London

The Wilde Woman of Aiken

1882, James A. Palmer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Thirteen Most Wanted Men

1964, Andy Warhol, Originally at the 1964 NY World's Fair Pavilion

Carving: A Traditional Sculpture

1972, Eleanor Antin, The Art Institute of Chicago

Mining the Museum

1992, Fred Wilson, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore

Comedian

2019, Maurizio Cattelan, Debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach

The Unburied Sounds of a Troubled Horizon

2022, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Various (Video Installation)

Unmade Drone

2025, Kara Walker, Contemporary Exhibitions / Artist's Studio

Aesthetics vs. Aestheticism

Aesthetics is the broad philosophical study of art, taste, and beauty. Aestheticism is the late-19th-century 'art for art's sake' movement prioritizing sensual appeal over moral agendas.

Representation vs. Visual Objectivity

Representation views images as constructed, subjective translations of reality. Visual Objectivity is the flawed assumption that images provide a neutral, unmediated, and purely factual view of the world.

Beauty vs. Morality

The tension over how art should be judged: strictly by its formal, visually pleasing qualities (beauty), or by its ethical message, virtue, and social impact (morality).

Genius vs. Gender

The critical examination of how the romanticized concept of the 'solitary genius' was historically constructed as an inherently male trait, systematically excluding women.

Political Rationale of the Museum

Built on permanence, archiving history, defining the canon, and nation-building (often reflecting and preserving colonial power structures).

Political Rationale of the Exhibition

Temporary, thematic, and curated to make a specific critical, aesthetic, or market-driven statement at a moment in time.

Political Rationale of the Biennial

Globalized, recurring mega-events focused on contemporary networking, international dialogue, and city-branding.

Adorno, 'Culture Industry Reconsidered'

Mass culture is a standardized industry producing predictable goods designed to pacify the masses and maintain capitalist control, destroying true artistic autonomy.

Azoulay, 'The Shutter'

Critiques imperial photography. The 'shutter' separates plundered objects (documented in museums) from the colonized people they were stolen from (left undocumented).

Battersby, 'The Clouded Mirror'

Traces the history of 'genius,' arguing that male philosophers deliberately shaped the concept to exclude women by associating creative greatness strictly with masculinity.

hooks, 'On Being the Subject of Art'

Examines the representation of Black individuals in visual culture, advocating for a shift from passive, objectified spectacles to empowered, active subjects.

Mitchell, 'Imperial Landscape'

Argues that landscape painting is not merely an art genre, but a medium of cultural power and imperialism that naturalizes ownership, colonization, and territorial control.

Nochlin, 'Women, Art, and Power'

Analyzes how visual representation historically reinforces patriarchy. Women in art are often depicted as passive and available, naturalizing their subordination.