Do you like to read? \u00a0Me, I’ve always been a voracious reader. \u00a0Like other autodidacts, I let my interests take me where it will–I read what I damn well please. \u00a0Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of art theory \u00a0(Foucault, Panofsky, Derrida, Johnson) and criticism, which brings me to Hickey. \u00a0I recently finished two of his books–“Air Guitar,” and “The Invisible Dragon”–on my kindle.<\/p>\n
Hickey’s prose crackles and shines, at least when he isn’t writing about art. \u00a0He can stand his interest in Mapplethorpe and Norman Rockwell side-by-side and have you nodding your head in admiring approval–no mean feat. \u00a0The Hunter Thompson-esque essays in Air Guitar tumble and slide through his life as a journalists, art lover, and art critic. \u00a0In one essay, Air Guitar, he discusses why he isn’t a writer with a capital ‘W’ and is\u00a0especially\u00a0memorable. \u00a0His love for art shines\u00a0throughout\u00a0the collection and will\u00a0resonant\u00a0with fellow art lovers.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the art related essays in The Invisible Dragon are not nearly as interesting. \u00a0In that book, Hickey makes the prediction that beauty will be important in future art. \u00a0The fact that this prediction has made Hickey notorious in some circles\u00a0might\u00a0astonish some. \u00a0This book is written for a narrow audience of his fellow\u00a0travelers\u00a0in a style that is part Paglia-esque\u00a0provocation and part apology. \u00a0His claim that the art world is dead is a mere commonplace at this point and the entire effort appears exhausted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you like to read? \u00a0Me, I’ve always been a voracious reader. \u00a0Like other autodidacts, I let my interests take me where it will–I read what I damn well please. \u00a0Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of art theory \u00a0(Foucault, Panofsky, Derrida, Johnson) and criticism, which brings me to Hickey. \u00a0I recently finished two of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[108,46,1],"tags":[111,112],"class_list":["post-876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-reviews","category-uncategorized","tag-art-critics","tag-david-hickey"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8173,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2018\/12\/venice-turpentine\/","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":0},"title":"Venice turpentine","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"David Davis was an art supply dealer in New York. He closed before the turn of the century--well before, so I have no idea how old this Venice turpentine I found this morning is. At least 20 years old. 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David to Delacroix: The Rise of Romantic Mythology is probably her best work. I think about this little book a lot. Even though the Neoclassicists are best known for their Classically-inspired history paintings, Johnson reminds us that it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "aesthetics"","block_context":{"text":"aesthetics","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/aesthetics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/david-johnson_.jpg?fit=360%2C499&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9722,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2021\/07\/thomas-crow\/","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":2},"title":"Thomas Crow","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"July 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Thomas Crow is an American art historian. For a short time, his interests overlapped with mine, which is how I became aware of him. Some readers might know that I am a fan of the French artist J.L David. Early in his career, Crow wrote a book focused on David\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "aesthetics"","block_context":{"text":"aesthetics","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/aesthetics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/crow2.jpg?fit=474%2C244&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2174,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2021\/05\/j-l-davids-cupid-and-psyche\/","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":3},"title":"J. L. David’s Cupid and Psyche","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"May 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Jacques-Louis David\u00a0is one of my favorite artists. David's reputation was cemented for me the first time I visited the Louvre. David made a career revitalizing well-known stories and allegories. From the beginning of\u00a0his career, David transformed shopworn subjects into works of startling originality. 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She sights several studies and experiments to buttress her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art Museums"","block_context":{"text":"Art Museums","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/art-museum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/met.jpg?fit=500%2C397&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5371,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/09\/visit-to-chicago-institute-of-art\/","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":5},"title":"Visit to Chicago Institute of Art","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"September 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"My wife and I spent several hours in the Art Institute on Friday. We were in Chicago for an AFHU event at the Ritz-Carlton. It was our first visit to the museum and we didn't attempt to see everything, which is impossible in one visit. 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