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Article: Hick or Hickey? Contemporary art in America (2).(Dave Hickey: America's unlikely guardian of artistic taste)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- August 4, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the eye of the beholder
Meet the P.J. O'Rourke of art criticism
IT IS hard to tell whether Dave Hickey, with his grizzled trucker looks and Texan drawl, is a backwoods curmudgeon or a thoughtful hipster of the contemporary-art world. He wears wind-breakers patched with brand names, he chain-smokes and he counts among his aesthetic favourites low-riding cars, Jeff Koons and Norman Rockwell. He is also charming, funny and nimble, like a boxer. Behind his regular-Joe tastes there lies a broad critical agenda. A foe of conceptual art, cultural theory and political correctness, Mr Hickey says he wants to return beauty to contemporary art.
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