Leonhard Emmerling

An icon of 1980s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) first made his name under the graffiti tag "SAMO", before establishing his studio practice and catapulting to fast fame at the age of 20. Although his career lasted barely a decade, he remains a cult figure of artistic social commentary and a trailblazer in the mediation of graffiti and gallery art....

An engaging exploration of the meaning and power of art that looks at popular theories through the ages. One of the most astonishing aspects of the discourse on contemporary art is the firm and unwavering belief that art has the power to transform society for the better. There seems to be a consensus around the idea that art, especially visual...

The rebel hero of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), careened through his life like a firework across the American art landscape. Channeling ideas from sources as diverse as Picasso and Mexican surrealism, he rejected convention to develop his own way of seeing, interpreting, and expressing. Pollock's most famous works are his drip paintings, where he dripped and poured household enamel...

In a world obsessed with expertise and control, the figure of the idiot illuminates deeper truths about society. Dostoevsky and Nietzsche wrote about him; Dadaists and punks idolised him; artists like Warhol and Beuys made him their icon. From holy fool to punk rebel, the idiot—a figure that traces its roots back to the Greek idiotes, a person who was...