The Invisible Dragon / Four Essays on Beauty / Dave Hickey

Upon its original release in 1993, Dave Hickey’s exquisitely written apologia for beauty―championed by artists and reviled by academicians—struck the arts like a thunderbolt. The book appeared at a time of cultural trauma, when the AIDS pandemic raged and beauty was often dismissed as a suspect quality of art. To the contrary, The Invisible Dragon argued that only beauty redeems, and artists may harness its power for personal and political affect.

The four essays…

1. Enter the Dragon: On the Vernacular of Beauty

2. Nothing Like the Son: On Robert Mapplethorpe’s X Portfolio

3. Prom Night in Flatland: On the Gender of Works of Art

4. After the Great Tsunami: On Beauty and the Therapeutic Institution

First Edition, 1993

64 pages, 7 illustrations, chapbook

ISBN 9780963726407