Organized by Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Donald Kuspit, Lucy Lippard, Nilda Peraza, and Lowery Sims, guest curators

“It is understood by now that all art is ideological and all art is used politically by the right or the left, with the conscious and unconscious assent of the artist. There is no neutral zone. Artists who remain stubbornly uninformed about the social and emotional effects of their images and their connections to other images outside the art context are most easily manipulated by the prevailing systems of distribution, interpretation, and marketing." -Lucy R. Lippard, Art and Ideology catalogue.

“This exhibition presented a major survey of recent art of political significance. The Museum invited five renowned critics and curators—Benjamin Buchloh, Donald Cuspit, Lucy Lippard, Nilda Peraza, and Lowery Sims—each to select two artists whose work conveys political implications. In the accompanying catalogue, the guest curators offered a formal and iconographic analysis of the work, plus a discussion of its ideological import. Through such exhibitions, the Museum continues its policy of focusing on issues prompted by different and often opposing points of view.” -From The New Museum Annual Report, 1981-1984