For perhaps more than any other philosopher of modernity Nietzsche espouses the fiercest version of
iconoclasm, an
attack on the image that, for sheer ferocity, has its only philosophical counterpart in Plato.
To make matters worse, two exhibitions were on anti-art themes of
iconoclasm («Art Under
Attack» in 2013) and ruins («Ruin Lust» in 2014), which seemed to betray a loss of faith in British art and a mood of pessimism within the museum.
Their declarations of freedom and
iconoclasm - including Pollock's rejection of easel painting and Johns and Rauschenberg's calculated
attacks on the idea of good taste - have become artistic monuments.
2013 Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, DK 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Malaga Contemporary Art Center (CAC), ES
Iconoclasm, Tate Britain, London, UK Island, Dairy Art Centre, London, UK Damage Control: Art & Destruction Since 1950, Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., US Théâtre du Mondem, la maison rouge, Paris, FR Viewing Room, All Visual Arts, London, UK Art under
Attack: Histories of British
Iconoclasm, Tate Britain, London, UK Victoriana: The Art of Revival, Guildhall Art Gallery, London, UK Capita Selecta, Groninger Museum, Groningen, NL Adventures of Truth - Painting and Philosophy: A Narrative, Fondation Maeght, Saint - Paul - de - Vence, FR Art in the event of the world, Depoland, Dunkerque, FR Sculpture in the City, London, UK FULL HOUSE, Schönewald Fine Arts, Düsseldorf, DE
From the state - sanctioned zeal of religious reformers and the symbolic statue - breaking that often accompanies political change to
attacks on art by individuals stimulated by moral or aesthetic outrage, this study aims to present the rationale of
iconoclasm and how it has become a productive and transformational practice for some contemporary artists.