And, to an extent, it’s probably the impression that you’re left with after reading magazines like this one too. Anyone who visited this year’s Documenta learned that. Listen to so-called learned sense about art today and you’ll find yourself pounded by the distinct opinion that finding pleasure in art is old-fashioned, even immoral. And these days we want art to speak to that world. Somehow, in these times of refugee crises, the rise of various forms of radical nationalism, the discourse of politics degenerating into an exchange of insults, the natural environment becoming less and less natural, if not gradually destroyed, and the gulf between rich and poor ever increasing, the notion of contemporary art being a source of pleasure (rather than critique or reflection) seems unfashionable, untopical and, well, generally unrealistic in terms of the world we actually inhabit. It’s not often that you hear ‘pleasure’ mentioned in the context of contemporary art these days.
