Enter The Dragon-Hickey

Dave Hickey's "Invisible Dragon, Essays on Beauty" was originally published in 1997, but  was revised and updated in 2009. In his book, Hickey criticizes art and writes about the consequences of beauty - or the lack of it - in the 
contemporary art world.


I think that Hickey's main message that he tries to get across to his readers in his book is that beauty, as a means and not an end, is what makes the content of art powerful to the beholder. Because it can be used to deliver almost any payload, beauty is and can be dangerous and subversive. Even though some people may call him confusing, he is very entertaining for an art critic and comes from the voice of a personal angle.Hickey tries to tell us that art is a great part of the lives of many, but if not used the right way, it can hurt others unintentionally.


-O.D.

Hicky's Invisible Dragon is interesting because he really dives into the essence of beauty in art and what it trully means. What I found interesting was when he asked what is beauty? People have many different opinions of what beauty is and Hicky believed it was improtant for all generations because when the viewer feels something is beautiful they will take in the whole piece of art. Hicky also argues that art has always had idoltray and advertisement. He states there also has been political emphases on works of art that could possibly take the beauty out of the art. In my opinion I agree a little bit because art can lead people in different directions but I also feel the beauty of the art is held in the one who is actually viewing the art.

- Owen