%0 PDF %T Art and the Politics of Neoliberal Subjectivity: The Activist Artist in the East Village, 1981-1993. %A Quick, Gabriel. %8 2017-04-20 %R http://localhost/files/m039kh14j %X Abstract: This thesis examines contemporary political art in New York City's East Village as set against the neoliberal political economy of the 1980s, arguing for the formation of a characteristically ambivalent subject-position exemplified by certain activist artists and their work. The introduction surveys key examples of East Village art and its positions within neoliberalism and postmodernity. Chapter 1 analyzes the work Ai Weiwei produced during the time he spent living in the East Village. Ai's work in this context reacted to commodification and gentrification. Chapter 2 examines the roles of individualism and autobiography in David Wojnarowicz's art before and after he became an AIDS activist, arguing for the political utility of those qualities. The concluding chapter widens the scope of focus to New York and American urban spaces more broadly by discussing the work of David Hammons, which addressed similar issues to those raised in previous chapters.; Thesis (M.A.)--Tufts University, 2015.; Submitted to the Dept. of Art and Art History.; Advisor: Jeremy Melius.; Committee: Eric Rosenberg, and Claire Grace.; Keyword: Art history. %[ 2022-10-13 %~ Tufts Digital Library %W Institution