Art - Quillette

Podcast #254: In Defence of Beauty

Iona Italia talks to artist Megan Gafford about how we have come to value statement-making over beauty and craftsmanship in art and architecture.

Quillette

9 Oct 2024 · 44 min read

The Totalitarian Artist: Politics vs Beauty

After Duchamp, the art world came to view the pursuit of beauty as naïve and gravitated toward political art in their search for meaning. But this is a Faustian bargain: you can have meaning, but you do not get to make it for yourself.

Megan Gafford

20 Sep 2024 · 27 min read

Faking Hope: AI Art as Propaganda

There is a new contender for the most effective weapon in the propaganda wars: photorealistic, generative AI art.

Julia Friedman

3 Nov 2023 · 8 min read

A Treasure Trove of Priceless Pornography

One might be skeptical about Pornhub’s claim that their interactive guide is a way to raise museum attendance in the wake of the pandemic-induced hiatus.

Julia Friedman

31 Jul 2021 · 11 min read

The Artist and the Censor

An embrace of the art for art’s sake ideal is the greatest defense for artists against self-censorship. Those who defend art from moralizing or censure—who accept the reality of art’s autonomy—are those who see art for what it is.

Alice Gribbin

5 Jun 2021 · 8 min read

Emotional Realism and The Enduring Art of Caravaggio

At a small auction house in Madrid there briefly appeared a very dark, very brown painting of Christ being presented to the people before his crucifixion: “ecce homo”, says Pilate—behold the man. A dirty old varnish obscures many of the painting’s finer details; but even so, art dealers

Jacob Willer

1 May 2021 · 9 min read