7 Stories Up at SNFL, Author Talks: Lauren O'Neill-Butler with E.C. Feiss and Ciarán Finlayson: The War of Art: A History of Artists' Protest in America
Location
What do artists' protests reveal about the possibilities for protest in our democracy? Lauren O'Neill-Butler's The War of Art invites us to learn, imagine, and mobilize, which we'll do together at this talk joined by O'Neill-Butler and fellow writers E.C. Feiss and Ciarán Finlayson.
This event will take place in person at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 7th Floor.
Artists in America have long battled against injustices, believing that art can in fact “do more.” The War of Art tells this history of artist-led activism and the global political and aesthetic debates of the 1960s to the present. In contrast to the financialized art market and celebrity artists, the book explores the power of collective effort — from protesting to philanthropy, and from wheat pasting to planting a field of wheat.
Lauren O’Neill-Butler charts the post-war development of artists’ protest and connects these struggles to a long tradition of feminism and civil rights activism. The book offers portraits of the key individuals and groups of artists who have campaigned for solidarity, housing, LGBTQ+, HIV/AIDS awareness, and against Indigenous injustice and the exclusion of women in the art world. This includes: the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC), Women Artists in Revolution (WAR), David Wojnarowicz’s work with ACT UP, Top Value Television (TVTV), Agnes Denes, Edgar Heap of Birds, Dyke Action Machine! (DAM!), fierce pussy, Project Row Houses, and Nan Goldin’s Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN).
Based upon in-depth oral histories with the key figures in these movements, and illustrated throughout, The War of Art is an essential corrective to the idea that art history excludes politics.
To join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Lauren O’Neill-Butler is a New York-based writer and editor. Her books include The War of Art: A History of Artists’ Protest in America (Verso, 2025) and Let’s Have a Talk: Conversations with Women on Art and Culture (Karma, 2021). A former cofounder of the nonprofit magazine November and Senior Editor of Artforum, she has written for Aperture, Art Journal, Bookforum, and The New York Times, among many others. In 2020 she received a Warhol Foundation Art Writers Grant and in 2023 she received the Beverley Art Writers Travel Grant.
E. C. Feiss is a writer and an assistant professor in the art and art history department at Providence College in Providence, RI. She has forthcoming work in the Radical History Review and Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art.
Ciarán Finlayson is a writer based in New York. He is Senior Editor at Triple Canopy and the author of Perpetual Slavery (Floating Opera, 2023).
GET THE BOOK
- Borrow: NYPL Catalog
- E-Book app: SimplyE, available on iOS and Android
- This event will also include signing and sales of the book by our Library Shop.
Don't have a New York Public Library card? Get one here!
ACCESSIBILITY NOTES
In-Person
- Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.
- You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.
- This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.
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Please submit all press inquiries to Connor Goodwin at least 48 hours before the event: email connorgoodwin@nypl.org.
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All programs are subject to change or cancellation. All programs are subject to recording and photography.
The 7 Stories Up Series at SNFL is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).