Art theory – handmaiden of neoliberalism?

The Art&Language Art Theory course proposal of 1969 was an incisive ideological exposé of the restructuring of art school education as university-level education, as a result of the Coldstream Report of 1960. I consider this course proposal together with a paper written by Terry Atkinson some 30 years later, addressed to the Fine Art Board at the University of Brighton reflecting on the reach of art theory in fine art education in 2002. Both Atkinson texts critique the institutional divide that structures fine art education into studio and academic work, which I consider historically, ideologically and from a feminist perspective. Finally, I consider the current dynamics of art theory in fine art education, describing a shift in emphasis and exchange value suggested by a recent article International Art English, on the rise – and the space – of the art-world press release by Alix Rule and David Levine, published in 2012.