Anne Wenzel | Carte Blanche (Fuck the Dictator)

By Selen Ansen, Anne de Haij and Anne Wenzel

In February 2019, Deirdre Carasso, director of the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, invited the artist Anne Wenzel to a boxing match at 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 at the centre.

This book documents that carte blanche project. It is both a manifesto on the autonomy of art and a reflection on the position of art and artists in today’s institutionalised art world. It contains essays and visual documentation on the various aspects of the carte blanche episode, complemented by the work Wenzel produced and presented at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam.

Language: Dutch/English

Published by nai010 Publishers, Rotterdam, 2023

ISBN 978-94-6208-826-9