THE ART OF CRUELTY/ A RECKONING

Writing in the tradition of Susan Sontag and Elaine Scarry, Maggie Nelson has emerged as one of our foremost cultural critics with t his landmark work about representations of cruelty and violence in art. From Sylvia Plaths poetry to Francis Bacons paintings, fro m the Saw franchise to Yoko Onos performance art, Nelsons nuanced exploration across the artistic landscape ultimately offers a mo del of how one might balance strong ethical convictions with an equally strong appreciation for work that tests the limits of taste, taboo, and ...[Read more]