Dave Hickey's Legacy as an Art Critic and His Influence on Art Writing

Dave Hickey, the art critic who passed away in 2021, championed aesthetic pleasure and democratic cultural forms in his influential writings. His 1993 book 'The Invisible Dragon: Essays on Beauty' argued against institutionally sanctioned, issue-driven art, advocating instead for optical pleasure. Hickey's 1997 essay collection 'Air Guitar' expanded his vision to include basketball, Siegfried & Roy's magic shows, and Chet Baker's music as worthy of critical attention. His literary, belles-lettristic style, characterized by slangy and highfalutin language, inspired a revival of interest in art writing over recent decades. Hickey's later years included vocal criticism of the artworld's decline into financialized spectacle, which he detailed in gossipy dispatches from art fairs. He retired but continued as a gadfly on stages until illness-enforced seclusion, documented in Daniel Oppenheimer's 2021 biography 'Far from Respectable: Dave Hickey and his Art'. Hickey's independence as a thinker, despite controversial aspects of his personality and sexist pronouncements, remains a cautionary tale about ego and myth. His impact lies in making art criticism engaging and readable, influencing writers and students, including a 1998 lecture where he was recommended alongside advice on stealing books from a college library.