Artpress Archive: 1984 Reader Letter Criticizes Art Jargon

A 1984 letter to artpress from reader Gaston Mouté, a winegrower whose daughter studied fine arts in Montpellier, criticized the magazine's use of pretentious art terminology. Mouté specifically objected to Guy Scarpetta's phrase 'mutation de la perception' and railed against 'postes modernes' and architectural modernity. The archive, presented by Thibaut de Ruyter, highlights how artpress has long been open to critique and self-critique. The letter raises a still-relevant question for art critics: does using fashionable words or poetic expressions suffice for good criticism? While the postmodernity debate has since shifted to postcolonialism and the Anthropocene, Mouté's attack on empty contemporary art formulas—like 'reinvent the real,' 'question the possible,' or 'deconstruct the gaze'—remains pointed. The piece notes that such phrases, though meaningless, confer an impression of intelligence on the user.