In her timely and punchy new book, philosopher Daisy Dixon explores some of the most controversial artworks ever produced. She examines how an artist's character can influence their creations and the harmful effects those creations can have on the world.
What Makes Art Depraved?
According to Dixon, art can be depraved in five ways: it can show an immoral state of affairs; cause someone to do a bad thing; express a dangerous message; be created by an immoral artist; or be made in a morally suspect way. She argues that depravity can lurk beneath the surface of a "pretty oil-soaked canvas."
For example, she questions Titian's The Rape of Europa, a 16th-century painting of a princess being dragged across the sea by Jupiter in the guise of a bull. "Well, it tells us that sexual violence is alluring and erotic," Dixon writes. "It tells us that 'No' does not count as genuine refusal; that women, deep down, desire such violation."
Contemporary and Disturbing Examples
Dixon does not limit her analysis to classical art. She includes video games, pornography, and performance art. One shocking example involves live goldfish being pulverised in blenders. Another is a film featuring scenes of paedophilia. A video game named Rape Day needs no explanation, but Dixon insists readers confront these works.
In 2017, protests erupted around Dana Schutz's painting of Emmett Till's mutilated body at the Whitney Biennial. Schutz intended to present white remorse, but the overriding response was that her use of black pain was appropriation. "Artistic speech can become depraved even when it is expressed in good faith," writes Dixon.
Historical and Modern Impact
Dixon traces concerns about art's power to corrupt back to Plato. More recently, Claire Dederer's 2023 book Monsters tackled the problem of great art by bad men. Dixon also notes that Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, who murdered five children in the 1960s, were avid readers of the Marquis de Sade's works. In the 1990s, Marilyn Manson was accused of corrupting youth.
What Should We Do?
Dixon does not shy away from offering solutions. She believes depraved art should not be hidden away but confronted "loudly, angrily, beautifully." Her passionate book will delight some and prompt eyerolls in others. "The remedy," she writes, "is better speech. Better art. Better curation."
Depraved: The Story of Dangerous Art is published by Faber (£20).
