A Hunger for Aesthetics

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For decades, aesthetics has been subjected to a variety of critiques, often concerning its treatment of beauty or the autonomy of art, leading to the anti-aesthetic stance prevalent in the contemporary art world. Yet if we examine the motivations for these critiques, Michael Kelly argues, we find theorists and artists hungering for a new kind of aesthetics, one better calibrated to contemporary artand its moral and political demands. Considering Susan Sontag's writing, as well as Gerhard Richter's and Doris Salcedo's art, Kelly advocates for a critical aesthetics that confirms the power of art.