This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s chronicles canonical as well as nearly forgotten works of the decade, arguing that what has often been dismissed as cynical or ironic should be viewed as a struggle on the part of artists to articulate their needs and desires in an increasingly commodified world. The major developments of the ’80s—the rise of the commercial art market, the politicization of the AIDS crisis, the increased visibility of women and gay artists and artists of color, and the ascension of new media—are illuminated in works by Sophie Calle, Nan Goldin, Mike Kelley, Jeff Koons, Sherrie Levine, and Lorna Simpson, among many others.

Essays by leading scholars, including Frazer Ward, Kobena Mercer, Johanna Burton, Elisabeth Lebovici, Bill Horrigan, and Sarah Schulman, provide unique perspectives on the decade’s competing factions and seemingly contradictory elements. Complete with critical texts on each object in the exhibition, the catalogue brings into focus the full impact of the art, artists, and political and cultural ruptures of this paradigm-shifting era. Featuring more than 200 full-color reproductions of works in a range of media, including drawing, painting, photography, and sculpture, This Will Have Been is an ambitious guide to a period of artistic transformation.

Published by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in association with Yale University Press. Flexibound softcover, 448 pages. 7 x 9 in.

Detail Jimmy De Sana, Seashells and Eggshells, 1982. Silver dye-bleach print, 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm). Jimmy De Sana Trust.