Authority and Freedom: A Defense of the Arts

“The singularity of an artistic endeavor—the way the individual works out the dynamic between authority and freedom... is everybody’s history,” writes art critic Perl (Paris Without End) in this passionate and cerebral work. Aiming to unpack the amorphous role of art in the personal and political spheres, he makes the astute observation that while “the artist’s struggle with authority is intimate,” it in many ways reflects “the struggle between the possible and impossible that plays out in the wider world.” To illustrate this phenomenon, he looks to ancient Egypt, where workmen’s adherence to and straying from convention led to “the gradual evolution of sculptural forms”; considers how Matisse embraced authority by working within “the imperatives of his art”; muses on the philosophical writings of Hannah Arendt; and draws a line from the past to the conundrum at hand today, where, he writes, amid political anxiety and unrest “many are asking whom the arts speak for.” Perl argues that trying to categorize the arts is a vain task: “At the heart of every encounter with a work of art... there’s the enigma of the work itself.” Instead, he presents a thought-provoking exploration into the limits and liberation that art can impose and unlock. Creatives in any field should give this a serious look. (Jan.)