Pericle Guaglianone argues contemporary art champions beauty, not rejects it

In a polemical essay on Artribune, critic Pericle Guaglianone argues that contemporary art is often wrongly accused of rejecting beauty, when in fact it has redefined the concept by divorcing it from mere attractiveness or 'cosmetics.' He draws a parallel with football commentary's misuse of the term 'cattiveria' (meanness) to illustrate broader lexical sloppiness. Guaglianone invokes Ulay's distinction between 'aesthetics without ethics' and 'cosmetics,' and cites André Breton's 1924 Surrealist Manifesto line 'Beauty will be convulsive or will not be.' He claims that canonical contemporary artists like Marcel Duchamp, Ana Mendieta, and Emilio Prini embody this convulsive beauty. The essay criticizes the stigma around the word 'bellezza' among art professionals, attributing it to a confusion with 'avvenenza' (comeliness). Guaglianone references the recent controversy over former Venice Biennale president Roberto Cicutto's wish for a 'beautiful' Biennale, arguing critics misunderstood him. He traces the philosophical roots to Nietzsche's Dionysian vs. Apollonian dichotomy, noting that 20th-century art history has favored non-comely artists like late Titian, Mannerists, and Caravaggio over 'Apollonian' ones like Raphael, Tiepolo, and Guido Reni. The essay warns that abandoning the term 'beauty' cedes it to formalists who equate it with mere prettiness.