Economists Making Art: Contemporary Art and New Narratives in Political Economy

. This paper is about the relationship between economics and contemporary art. It focuses on the utility of new narratives in political economy from art-based research experiences, in the representation of the economy through contemporary art. The work reviews the work of several contemporary artists who are also economists. In addition, this contribution analyzes the potential of art for the transmission of economic concepts and therefore its effectiveness for teaching and learning political economy. Art is also a space for the representation of the economy. The political and social aspect of the economy recommends extending the reflections on the economy beyond the debate between economists. Economic ideas cross that disciplinary frontier and end up being the subject of a more open thinking. Therefore, the pieces of art about economy are useful. One particularly noteworthy aspect is that, unlike the dominant economy, the artistic process is inevitably associated with creativity. The paper reviews the work of several contemporary artists who are economists as well and identifies how to use art in the classroom for teaching and learning political economy. We found that art creation of economists constitutes an alternative form of reflection about the economic problems and a suggestive material with educational utility.