Brian Dillon's Affinities Explores Personal Fascination in Art Criticism

Brian Dillon's book Affinities, published by Fitzcarraldo, examines the concept of affinity in art criticism, defined as a fascination distinct from critical analysis. The collection includes essays on a range of figures, such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Loie Fuller, Eileen Gray, Hanna Höch, Claude Cahun, Dora Maar, Diane Arbus, Francesca Woodman, Powell and Pressburger, Charles and Ray Eames, William Eggleston, and Samuel Beckett. Dillon critiques the boredom of opinion-driven criticism and explores themes like androgyny, photographic blur, and bodily fragments. He references theorists like Roland Barthes, Janet Malcolm, and Wayne Koestenbaum while questioning the politics of aesthetic preferences. The book is priced at £13.99 in softcover and concludes with a list of unwritten artworks, highlighting Dillon's focus on personal taste over institutional constraints.