This is a list and work in progress of artwork and artists directly addressing oppression with the potential to initiate dialogue around issues of race, class, sexism, feminist and queer issues. In no particular order….
Ai Weiwei –Amazing! Must watch the documentary Never Sorry! If ever you were unsure about the ability of art speaking truth to power and confronting the government, Rest Assured. Ai Weiwei will knock your socks off!
Jimmie Durham He is a super conceptual and brilliant artist who was/is involved with the American Indian Movement.
Coco Fusco In March 1992, performance artist and MacArthur Fellow, Guillermo Gómez-Peña and writer/artist Coco Fusco locked themselves in a cage. Presenting themselves as aboriginal inhabitants of an island off the gulf of Mexico that was overlooked by Columbus, their spectacle provided a thorn in the side of postcolonial angst.
The Knotted Line – The Knotted Line is an interactive, tactile laboratory for exploring the historical relationship between freedom and confinement in the geographic area of the United States. With miniature paintings of over 50 historical moments from 1495-2025, The Knotted Line asks: how is freedom measured? Just as importantly, The Knotted Line imagines a new world through the work of grassroots movements for self-determination
Evan Bissell– is the creator of the Knotted Line. This link will take you to an interview ’bout him and the project.
Guillermo Gomez Pena / La Pocha Nostra
Jesusa Rodriguez look her up on youtube….
Biko Emory, Pittsburgh, PA
Vanessa German, Pittsburgh, PA – Recently founded the LoveFrontPorch project.
Climbing Poetry – Social justice performance
“Monkey and the Devil” performance by the Zaccho Dance Troupe
Ayanah Moor, Pittsburgh, PA
Taraneh Hemami, San Francisco, CA
Iranian artist, racial profiling, war/terrorism
Mabel Negrete, San Francisco, CA /
Prisons: An Invisible Culture
Puppet Uprising, Philadelphia, PA
Paper Hands, NC
Wise Fool, San Francisco, CA
Anna Martine Whitehead, Los Angeles, CA
Bayete Ross Smith, San Francisco, CA / NYC
WHAT'S UP?! Pittsburgh 
What an awesome list! Would you consider adding Justseeds to this list?
Done and done 🙂
-Corvus