Dominique Baqué's 'Mauvais genre(s)' Examines Eroticism and Pornography in 1990s Art

Dominique Baqué's book 'Mauvais genre(s), pornographie, érotisme, art contemporain' (Éditions du Regard) surveys 1990s artistic practices centered on the body, eroticism, and pornography. Baqué argues that Georges Bataille's categories are outdated and that a new configuration of the body has emerged, driven by desublimation of sexuality and a reconfiguration of the public-private divide. She explores themes through artists such as Nan Goldin, Larry Clark, Jeff Koons, Andres Serrano, and Araki, and addresses bioethical questions surrounding cloning and the posthuman. The book covers photography, plastic arts, cinema, and fashion, but gives little attention to performance and dance. Baqué also discusses new feminism in literature (Alina Reys, Christine Angot, Virginie Despentes, Catherine Millet) and cinema (Catherine Breillat), as well as body modification practices by Ron Athey and Bob Flanagan. The conclusion considers the posthuman as a mode of contemporary self-reflection, suggesting an eroticism of the clone and prosthesis (Cronenberg, Chapman brothers, Cindy Sherman).