The artpolitics of May Stevens' work: Disrupting the distribution of the sensible

•Presents and discusses the life an work of May Stevens•Introduces the concept of the artpolitics assemblage•Discusses and Rancière's analysis of the politics of aesthetics•Criticises Rancière's notion of the redistribution of the sensible through a combination of Foucault's notion of the dispositive and Deleuze and Guattari's notion of the machinic assemblage

SynopsisIn this paper I look into the life and art of May Stevens, an American working class artist, feminist and committed political activist. I am particularly interested in how Stevens' artwork is inextricably interwoven with her politics, constituting, as I will argue, an assemblage of artpolitics. The discussion draws on Jacques Rancière's analyses of the politics of aesthetics and particularly his notion of ‘the distribution of the sensible’. What I argue is that although Rancière's approach to the politics of aesthetics illuminates an understanding and appreciation of Stevens' art, his idea about the redistribution of the sensible is problematic. It is here that the notion of artpolitics as an assemblage opens up possibilities for a critical project that goes beyond the limitations of Rancière's proposition.