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Cultural hegemony refers to domination or rule maintained through ideological or cultural means. It is usually achieved through social institutions, which allow those in power to strongly influence the values, norms, ideas, expectations, worldview, and behavior of the rest of society.

Cultural hegemony functions by framing the worldview of the ruling class, and the social and economic structures that embody it, as just, legitimate, and designed for the benefit of all, even though these structures may only benefit the ruling class. This kind of power is distinct from rule by force, as in a military dictatorship, because it allows the ruling class to exercise authority using the "peaceful" means of ideology and culture.

Cultural Hegemony According to Antonio Gramsci

The Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci developed the concept of cultural hegemony out of Karl Marx's theory that the dominant ideology of society reflects the beliefs and interests of the ruling class. Gramsci argued that consent to the rule of the dominant group is achieved by the spread of ideologies-beliefs, assumptions, and values-through social institutions such as schools, churches, courts, and the media, among others. These institutions do the work of socializing people into the norms, values, and beliefs of the dominant social group. As such, the group that controls these institutions controls the rest of society.

Cultural hegemony is most strongly manifested when those ruled by the dominant group come to believe that the economic and social conditions of their society are natural and inevitable, rather than created by people with a vested interest in particular social, economic, and political orders.

Gramsci developed the concept of cultural hegemony in an effort to explain why the worker-led revolution that Marx predicted in the previous century had not come to pass. Central to Marx's theory of capitalism was the belief that the destruction of this economic system was built into the system itself since capitalism is premised on the exploitation of the working class by the ruling class. Marx reasoned that workers could only take so much economic exploitation before they would rise up and overthrow the ruling class. However, this revolution did not happen on a mass scale.

The Cultural Power of Ideology

Gramsci realized that there was more to the dominance of capitalism than the class structure and its exploitation of workers. Marx had recognized the important role that ideology played in reproducing the economic system and the social structure that supported it, but Gramsci believed that Marx had not given enough credit to the power of ideology. In his essay " The Intellectuals," written between 1929 and 1935, Gramsci described the power of ideology to reproduce the social structure through institutions such as religion and education. He argued that society's intellectuals, often viewed as detached observers of social life, are actually embedded in a privileged social class and enjoy great prestige. As such, they function as the "deputies" of the ruling class, teaching and encouraging people to follow the norms and rules established by the ruling class.

Gramsci elaborated on the role the education system plays in the process of achieving rule by consent, or cultural hegemony, in his essay " On Education."

The Political Power of Common Sense

In " The Study of Philosophy," Gramsci discussed the role of "common sense"-dominant ideas about society and about our place in it-in producing cultural hegemony. For example, the idea of "pulling oneself up by the bootstraps," the idea that one can succeed economically if one just tries hard enough, is a form of "common sense" that has flourished under capitalism, and that serves to justify the system. In other words, if one believes that all it takes to succeed is hard work and dedication, then it follows that the system of capitalism and the social structure that is organized around it is just and valid. It also follows that those who have succeeded economically have earned their wealth in a just and fair manner and that those who struggle economically, in turn, deserve their impoverished state. This form of "common sense" fosters the belief that success and social mobility are strictly the responsibility of the individual, and in doing so obscures the real class, racial, and gender inequalities that are built into the capitalist system.

In sum, cultural hegemony, or our tacit agreement with the way that things are, is a result of socialization, our experiences with social institutions, and our exposure to cultural narratives and imagery, all of which reflect the beliefs and values of the ruling class.

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How the Ruling Class Maintains Power Using Ideas and Norms

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Cultural hegemony refers to the way in which a society's ruling class maintains power using ideas and norms.

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Research. Susan Sontag Against Interpretation

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Research. Susan Sontag Against Interpretation

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October 2022 Experimentation. Documentation of studio work process 

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October 2022 Experimentation. Documentation of studio work process 

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30/09/22 Research. Tate Britain Gallery visit

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30/09/22 Research. Tate Britain Gallery visit

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22/10/22 Research. Hannah Catherine Jones, Mimosa House, exhibition visit

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22/10/22 Research. Hannah Catherine Jones, Mimosa House, exhibition visit

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Tai Shani, Gathering, Exhibition visit

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11/10/22 Research. Christopher Kulendran Thomas, ICA gallery visit.

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11/10/22 Research. Christopher Kulendran Thomas, ICA gallery visit.

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Acrylic Paint on paper, roughly 2m x 2m 

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I used my zine as a starting point for this work, reflecting on my surroundings since moving to London in September and the things I find inspiring and visually stimulating when I’m walking around. I wanted to experiment with colour and space, trying to fit many different images into one painting, the process feels similar to collage. There are many ‘layers’ beneath the painting’s final surface, which is a byproduct of my instinctual nature when painting, I just paint new images on top of what is already there until I feel happy with it’s appearance. I have worked with this process, leaving gaps through the layers to play with someone’s interpretation of the image. By the end the painting is exploring many different topics on my mind for example self surveillance and how we see our surroundings as backgrounds for our photos to post online, and how experiences don’t feel complete unless we have shared photos of it to our online audience, which is what I was intending to do with this work when I was finished which I found ironic. I just used the painting to help me think of things I would like to explore in the future and to practice painting again after the break since finishing my foundation course in June.

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23/10/22 Research. Carolee Schneemann- Body Politics, Barbican Art Gallery 

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23/10/22 Research. Carolee Schneemann- Body Politics, Barbican Art Gallery 

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Installation Views
John Knight
A work in situ
établissement d'en face, Brussels
17 November 2018 - 20 January 2019
Photographs by Sara Deraedt

John Knight
Quiet Quality
1974
Electric blanket and text
Electric blanket folded dimensions: 207 x 53 x 4 cm / 81.5 x 20.8 x 1.5 in
Text: 27.8 x 21.5 cm / 10.9 x 8.5 in

John Knight
Worldebt
1994
Ink on aluminium, three-piece acrylic frame, steel screws
165 parts
Installed throughout Art Unlimited, Art Basel, 15 - 21 June, 2015

John Knight
From the Mirror Series
2016
Knotty pine and front-faced mirror
42 x 42 x 3⁄4 inches

John Knight
Cold Cuts
Installation views, Cabinet, London, from 29 September 2017

John Knight
A work in situ
2017
Carbon fibre and aluminium
365 x 13 x 33 cm
Installation view, Skulptur Projekte, Münster, 10 June - 1 October 2017

John Knight
Fitzpatrick Leyland House
Installation views, 1st - 5th February 2014

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Installation Views John Knight A work in situ établissement d'en face, Brussels 17 November 2018 - 20 January 2019 Photographs by Sara Deraedt John Knight Quiet Quality 1974 Electric blanket and text Electric blanket folded dimensions: 207 x 53 x 4 cm / 81.5 x 20.8 x 1.5 in Text:

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Estate is a new exhibition by Nathaniel Mellors bringing together works developed over the last decade and not previously exhibited in the UK. It features two clusters of film and video works, including Neanderthal Crucifixion (2021), Neanderthal Container (2014), and The Sophisticated Neanderthal Interview (2013) - held aloft by 4-foot high puppets.

Mellors projects issues of class and ownership of knowledge and culture into his absurdist fictions, using the study of The Upper Palaeolithic as 'a lens for the present'. He has described the Neanderthal as 'the ultimate prehistoric other figure,' observing that the gap between the human and Neanderthal, which was considered to be absolute, has shrunk into negative space. The Neanderthal is now inside us genetically and is viewed in a significantly more positive light than when Mellors made The Sophisticated Neanderthal Interview (2013), in part as a parody of class-based assumptions around cultural knowledge.

In his most recent work, Neanderthal Crucifixion (2021), the Neanderthal artist, locked-down in the cave, ruminates on its achievements in art and design and its relationship with the cave-owning power-structure 'The Sporgo'. It experiences a crisis of the ego. The work was animated and performed by Mellors during lockdown.

Mellors has also been developing new works in an ongoing series of 'BROW' paintings (2022) which extend the neanderthal brow motif into absurdist figuration.

Estate also features a music video from The God In Hackney (Mellors' group with Andy Cooke, Dan Fox and Ashley Marlowe) and a new solo 7" single Life Becomes a Promo/Digital Worms issued as a special joint-edition between Matt's Gallery and the artist's Junior Aspirin Records.

Accompanying the exhibition is PERMANENT PRESENTS, published by FRAC Bretagne with support from Matt's Gallery, Leeds Beckett University and Galerie Crévecoeur Paris.

Click below to read Q8, the eighth instalment in our ongoing series of artist interviews.

Listen to Life Becomes a Promo and Digital Worms via Apple Music, Spotify and Nathaniel Mellors' Bandcamp.

Watch the music video for Life Becomes a Promo on YouTube.

Estate is Mellors' 5th solo exhibition at Matt's Gallery.

With support from The Elephant Trust.

Drinks by Sassy Cidre.

Equipment kindly loaned by Chisenhale Gallery and Southwark Park Galleries.

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Private View + PERMANENT PRESENTS Book Launch Sunday 25 September 2-5pm Estate is a new exhibition by Nathaniel Mellors bringing together works developed over the last decade and not previously exhibited in the UK. It features two clusters of film and video works, including Neanderthal Crucifixion (2021), Neanderthal Container (2014), and The Sophisticated Neanderthal Interview (2013) - held aloft by 4-foot high puppets.

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Exhibition Reflection Form- Anne Imhof, Spruth Magers- 01/10/22

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Exhibition Reflection Form- Anne Imhof, Spruth Magers- 01/10/22