An interview with Yve-Alain Bois
Eminent art theorist and historian, Yve-Aiain Bois recently visited Australia in conjunction with the Queensland Art Gallery's Matisse exhibition and conference. In the following interview, recorded in Brisbane in April 1995, Bois disputes a number of art critical and historical orthodoxies, argues for the continuing role of aesthetic judgement, discusses political art, fame, the Russian Constructivists, Cindy Sherman and the legacy of Duchamp.
Rex Butler You're an art historian who openly, even provocatively, declares himself to be a formalist and who still makes value judgements-who says that this is good and this is bad-and these judgements are very important to your writing. How does your work stand in relation to cultural studies in art, postcolonialism and to the issues of gender which tend to eliminate questions of judgement?
Yve-Aiain Bois As far as being a formalist goes, I have learnt not to shy away from this accusation. One of things that cultural studies, gender studies, postcolonial
studies-the realm of the 'studies' -sought to achieve was to open up a discourse that had appeared to be fairly closed. Yet it actually levelled out-in the name of difference-the questions that ought to be asked of the work of art. The questions the 'studies' ask are always the same.
This is where I defer. I do not speak about 'differences', but always ask myself, when in front of any art object: what is its specificity? When people ask why I wrote about a particular work, the answer is usually because I wanted to understand why I like it. If I am interested in something, I want to understand why; that is why I write about it.
RB Your analyses provide very rigorous accounts... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline