“Contemporary Art Under Fascism” is Scott Cobb’s final curatory contribution to the University of Texas at Austin’s art department. Coinciding with the studio art graduate program’s senior showcase, Cobb has organized a politically poignant collection of 42 works by 22 student and faculty artists, on display for two days in the school’s art building.
“This art show is designed to be a place of dialogue,” says Cobb. In spring 2025, the undergraduate student curated an exhibit titled “The Last Art Show Before Fascism,” a reference to then-freshly inaugurated President Trump’s looming second term. A year later, in his final semester at the university, the tone is more dire.
The recent unexpected closing of queer, Latino artist Victor Quiñonez’s exhibit at the University of North Texas points to a troubling trend of political suppression in higher education led by Texan universities. “I think a lot of people are afraid of being too vocal, because they know that something could happen,” Cobb says.
He was pleased to have many submissions to the exhibition, but imagines that others may have been dissuaded from participation by fears of retaliation – heightened by ongoing actions at UT, like the consolidation of gender and ethnic studies programs, and past incidents of rough treatment of protesting students at the hands of campus police and state troopers.
Some of Cobb’s pieces, like those criticizing on-campus apathy toward violence against student protestors, address hyperlocal demonstrations of national issues, while others – including a series of four paintings, split between the senior showcase and this exhibition – depict the nationwide wounds that this period of political unrest has already enacted.
“Whatever happens, society is going to be changed, and there’s going to be marks left on each individual who lives in the United States,” he says.
The artist will move on to Virginia Commonwealth University for an MFA in painting and printmaking in a few months, but this exhibition, he hopes, will poke at the injuries to creative freedom still smarting at the university and serve as a precedent for students going forward.
“This is a test,” says Cobb. “Do universities tolerate artistic expression? Do they clamp down on political speech? Or is this a safe place for students to come?”
“Contemporary Art Under Fascism” is on display April 17-18 at the University of Texas at Austin Art Building, 2nd Floor, Large Crit Space, at 2301 San Jacinto Blvd. The opening reception will take place on April 17 from 4-8pm.
Editor’s Note: This article previously identified Cobb as a graduate student and has since been corrected.
