The Invisible Dragon

Modern art, say those in the know, isn't so much about beauty as it is about instruction. Art appreciation is considered, in our culture, a consequence of sophistication, taste and learning--the property of the learned elite, the rich and famous. Even for sympathetic contemporary art lovers, there is something terribly precious about the intense politicization that animates much contemporary artistic practice. But can beauty replace pedagogy in art? In essays on gender and beauty, Robert Mapplethorpe, art institutions and beauty's ``vernacular,'' art critic and teacher Hickey prompts a consideration of aspects of the rhetoric of beauty in Western art. ``The vernacular of beauty, in its democratic appeal, remains a potent instrument for change in this civilization,'' Hickey asserts. But he goes on to say that what stands in the way of change are the museums, universities, foundations and the like ``mandated to kidnap an entire province of ongoing artistic endeavor from its purportedly dysfunctional parent culture,'' to dissect and neutralize the power of images. One could argue with Hickey that new mass art audiences' responses to beauty are helping change both art's institutional framework and its position in our culture. But Hickey is on to something: beauty's reemergence as a coveted value challenges the art professional's role as art custodian. And from the standpoint of those who value democratic culture, this is all to the good. Illustrated. (Aug.)