The War of Art: A History of Artists’ Protest in America
Verso, June 2025
288 pages
140mm × 210mm
How art and artists have tried to change the world.
Beyond the financialised art market and mega-star artists, creativity remains a space of experimentation, the power of collective efforts and, a means of resistance. The War of Art charts the postwar story of those who have used their art as a form of political protest. The book offers portraits of the key individuals and groups of art activists who have campaigned for solidarity, housing, LGBTQ+ and Indigenous justice, greater inclusion of women in the art world and AIDS awareness, including 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!, fierce pussy, Project Row Houses and Nan Goldin’s Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN).
Based upon in-depth interviews with the key figures in the movements, O’Neill-Butler argues that the braiding of art and politics is an essential, yet overlooked, part of America’s cultural history; that artists have long fought hard against injustices; and that art itself can in fact ‘do more.’
Verso, June 2025
288 pages
140mm × 210mm
How art and artists have tried to change the world.
Beyond the financialised art market and mega-star artists, creativity remains a space of experimentation, the power of collective efforts and, a means of resistance. The War of Art charts the postwar story of those who have used their art as a form of political protest. The book offers portraits of the key individuals and groups of art activists who have campaigned for solidarity, housing, LGBTQ+ and Indigenous justice, greater inclusion of women in the art world and AIDS awareness, including 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!, fierce pussy, Project Row Houses and Nan Goldin’s Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN).
Based upon in-depth interviews with the key figures in the movements, O’Neill-Butler argues that the braiding of art and politics is an essential, yet overlooked, part of America’s cultural history; that artists have long fought hard against injustices; and that art itself can in fact ‘do more.’
Let’s Have a Talk: Conversations with Women on Art and Culture
Karma, 2021
448 pages
9 1⁄4 × 6 1⁄2 inches
Order Now
Read an interview with writer Jennifer Krasinski for Artforum on the art of the interview.
This massive volume comprises nearly 90 interviews published across a 13-year span of Lauren O’Neill-Butler’s career as a writer, educator, editor, and cofounder of November magazine. The majority of the interviews first appeared on Artforum’s interviews column, which she edited for 11 years. Interviewees include:
Adrian Piper
Agnes Varda
Aki Sasamoto
Alex Bag
Amy O’Neill
Andrea Fraser
Anohni
Aura Rosenberg
Beryl Korot
Beverly Semmes
Carol Bove
Carolee Schneemann
Catherine Christer Hennix
Claudia Rankine
Constance De Jong
Dianna Molzan
Donna J. Haraway
Dorothea Rockburne
Ebony G. Patterson
Elaine Reichek
Eleanor Antin
Ellie Ga
fierce pussy
Frances Stark
Georgia Sagri
Hong-Kai Wang
Howardena Pindell
Iman Issa
Jeanine Oleson
Jennifer West
Jessamyn Fiore
Jesse Jones
Jo Baer
Joan Jonas
Joan Semmel
Judy Chicago
Julia Bryan-Wilson
Karla Black
Kathryn Andrews
Katy Siegel
Lisa Tan
Lisi Raskin
Liz Deschenes
Lorraine O’Grady
Lorrie Moore
Lucy Dodd
Lucy McKenzie
Lucy R. Lippard
Lucy Skaer
Lynda Benglis
Lynne Tillman
Marlene McCarty
Mary Beth Edleson
Mary Ellen Carroll
Mary Heilmann
Mary Kelly
Mary Mattingly
Mimi Thi Nyugen
Mira Schor
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
Nan Goldin
Nancy Goldring
Nell Painter
Pauline Oliveros
Polly Apfelbaum
Rachel Foullon
Rachel Mason
Rebecca Solnit
Rebecca Warren
Renee Green
Rhonda Lieberman
Rita McBride and Kim Schoenstadt
Ruby Sky Stiler
Sakiko Sugawa
Sara Greenberger Rafferty
Sarah Crowner
Shannon Ebner
Sophie Calle
Sturtevant
Sue Coe
Suzanne Lacy
Tauba Auerbach
Virginia Dwan
W.A.G.E.
Yoko Ono
Events:
Thursday, September 22, 2022:
The Arts Club of Chicago, luchtime chat.
Sunday, May 15, 2022:
The Artbook @ MoMA PS1 Bookstore, a conversation with art historian and curator Katy Siegel.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Karma, 2021
448 pages
9 1⁄4 × 6 1⁄2 inches
Order Now
Read an interview with writer Jennifer Krasinski for Artforum on the art of the interview.
This massive volume comprises nearly 90 interviews published across a 13-year span of Lauren O’Neill-Butler’s career as a writer, educator, editor, and cofounder of November magazine. The majority of the interviews first appeared on Artforum’s interviews column, which she edited for 11 years. Interviewees include:
Adrian Piper
Agnes Varda
Aki Sasamoto
Alex Bag
Amy O’Neill
Andrea Fraser
Anohni
Aura Rosenberg
Beryl Korot
Beverly Semmes
Carol Bove
Carolee Schneemann
Catherine Christer Hennix
Claudia Rankine
Constance De Jong
Dianna Molzan
Donna J. Haraway
Dorothea Rockburne
Ebony G. Patterson
Elaine Reichek
Eleanor Antin
Ellie Ga
fierce pussy
Frances Stark
Georgia Sagri
Hong-Kai Wang
Howardena Pindell
Iman Issa
Jeanine Oleson
Jennifer West
Jessamyn Fiore
Jesse Jones
Jo Baer
Joan Jonas
Joan Semmel
Judy Chicago
Julia Bryan-Wilson
Karla Black
Kathryn Andrews
Katy Siegel
Lisa Tan
Lisi Raskin
Liz Deschenes
Lorraine O’Grady
Lorrie Moore
Lucy Dodd
Lucy McKenzie
Lucy R. Lippard
Lucy Skaer
Lynda Benglis
Lynne Tillman
Marlene McCarty
Mary Beth Edleson
Mary Ellen Carroll
Mary Heilmann
Mary Kelly
Mary Mattingly
Mimi Thi Nyugen
Mira Schor
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
Nan Goldin
Nancy Goldring
Nell Painter
Pauline Oliveros
Polly Apfelbaum
Rachel Foullon
Rachel Mason
Rebecca Solnit
Rebecca Warren
Renee Green
Rhonda Lieberman
Rita McBride and Kim Schoenstadt
Ruby Sky Stiler
Sakiko Sugawa
Sara Greenberger Rafferty
Sarah Crowner
Shannon Ebner
Sophie Calle
Sturtevant
Sue Coe
Suzanne Lacy
Tauba Auerbach
Virginia Dwan
W.A.G.E.
Yoko Ono
Events:
Thursday, September 22, 2022:
The Arts Club of Chicago, luchtime chat.
Sunday, May 15, 2022:
The Artbook @ MoMA PS1 Bookstore, a conversation with art historian and curator Katy Siegel.
