Focal Points: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Reflections on diversity and inclusion issues from one of the most influential American art critics

Previously published by the Andy Warhol Foundation of the Visual Arts in 1994, Between a Rock and a Hard Place is the focus of the third volume of Robert Storr’s Focal Points series. In this two-part essay, Storr examines the lack of diversity among the highest levels of the museum world: drawing on situations he encountered in his own career as a curator at MoMA as well as enumerating the ＂aesthetic, political and practical＂ obstacles on the path toward inclusion both in the museum world and society at large. The work is presented with new introductory text by the author and the book’s editor, art historian Francesca Pietropaolo. These fresh contributions add more context to Storr’s view on the crucial subject of race division in American culture and society. Storr illustrates his arguments by addressing the work of a great breadth of American artists, including David Hammons, Byron Kim, Glenn Ligon and Adrian Piper, among others.