Redefining art and culture: The Welsh Arts Council’s ‘Art and Society’ exhibition series 1969–76
Redefining art and culture: The Welsh Arts Council’s ‘Art and Society’ exhibition series 1969–76
Between 1969 and 1976, the Welsh Arts Council (WAC) organized a groundbreaking exhibition series called ‘Art and Society’, which explored how particular themes – war, work, worship and sex – had been interpreted across different media. Combining ‘high’ art with ‘popular’ culture, this series attracted international attention for challenging cultural hierarchies and advancing a broader, sociological definition of ‘art’. Yet it also attracted controversy, both for rejecting critical standards and for the theme of its final exhibition, ‘sex’. This article examines ‘Art and Society’ in its broader historical context. It argues that the series demonstrates WAC’s contribution to key cultural debates in post-war Britain.
28-49
Jones, Huw David
8a9d536b-2b68-41be-a1a6-da9aff14ec63
2014
Jones, Huw David
8a9d536b-2b68-41be-a1a6-da9aff14ec63
Jones, Huw David
(2014)
Redefining art and culture: The Welsh Arts Council’s ‘Art and Society’ exhibition series 1969–76.
Visual Culture in Britain, 15 (1), .
(doi:10.1080/14714787.2014.867150).
Abstract
Between 1969 and 1976, the Welsh Arts Council (WAC) organized a groundbreaking exhibition series called ‘Art and Society’, which explored how particular themes – war, work, worship and sex – had been interpreted across different media. Combining ‘high’ art with ‘popular’ culture, this series attracted international attention for challenging cultural hierarchies and advancing a broader, sociological definition of ‘art’. Yet it also attracted controversy, both for rejecting critical standards and for the theme of its final exhibition, ‘sex’. This article examines ‘Art and Society’ in its broader historical context. It argues that the series demonstrates WAC’s contribution to key cultural debates in post-war Britain.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 10 February 2014
Published date: 2014
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Local EPrints ID: 419076
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/419076
ISSN: 1471-4787
PURE UUID: 6867dcc6-02bb-4855-9bec-aed231f7c674
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Date deposited: 28 Mar 2018 16:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:32
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