Anne Wenzel - Carte Blanche: Fuck the Dictator

In February 2019 Deirdre Carasso, director of the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, invited the artist Anne Wenzel to enter a boxing ring in the museum, pitting the autonomy of art against the power of cultural institutions. Wenzel, who had never boxed before, accepted the challenge on the condition that if she won, the museum would give her carte blanche. Wenzel won and took over the museum with the aim of putting art centre stage.

This book, which documents the carte blanche episode, is both a manifesto for the autonomy of art and a reflection on the position of art and artists in the current institutionalized art world. Along with essays and visual documentation about the different aspects of the carte blanche episode, the book presents the body of work produced and presented by Wenzel at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam.