Transgressions: The Offences of Art

This book does have a lot of flaws: a muddled attempt at piecing together a linear narrative of transgressive art as he defines it; a lack of real polemic bite, if such was the intent; a strange typology of trangessions in art that are not argued for convincingly; a couple of chapters at the end of the book that seem to be complete filler entirely. But I liked it nonetheless. I actually found it quite stimulating to the mind. It is because he raises the perenially important questions that are relevant in any serious discussion about art. Just how far are you willing to allow an artist into your own soul and in what circumstances? How much are you willing to be violated and does art always have to violate? What is the value in art that merely tries to do rule-breaking for the sake of breaking rules? What is the value of shock art in an age that is inundated by works of shock art? Can art be really effective in a political sense? When does art stop being art and just is damaging to the soul in every respect? You will not find answers to any of these here. You also have to read a lot of scholarly-like muddle musing about it, but I think it is important to have people remind us of these questions from time to time. No -- I would say it is almost essential if you are going to live a life of art as I do. Read this book if these topics are of interest to you.

This book nudges up to all kinds of scary issues: pornography, images of violence, censorship, freedom of expression. The brilliant lawyer Anthony Julius takes as his occasion the ways in which modern art since the mid nineteenth century has taken as part of its mission to challenge (and raise into public consciousness) the moral and cultural norms of a society. When is a work of art pornographic? When does it portray and comment upon a work of such savage violence that we are violated by being challenged to even look at it? What role does satire play in massaging transgressive images and their ideas for general consumption? From Manet's "Olympia" to Serrano's "Piss Christ," Julius assembles the evidence in this broadly and wonderfully written account of a modern phenomenon. Highly recommended.