Exhibition as Social Intervention: 'Culture in Action' 1993 Exhibition Histories, Volume 5

Introduction by David Morris, Paul O'Neill. Text by Joshua Decter, Helmut Draxler, Joe Scanlan, Haf?ór Yngvason. Contributions by Mary Jane Jacob and interviews with artists Mark Dion, Simon Grennan, Daniel J. Martinez, Michael Brenson.

A show challenging conventional understandings of public art, Culture in Action in Chicago had a new social agenda, and rethought 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 documented, with critical reappraisal of this important exhibition in newly commissioned essays and interviews, together with reviews from the time.