Internationally recognised art and literary critic, writer and cultural producer. Published in ELLE, Glamour, Esquire and Cosmopolitan; member of the Union of Writers.
Art is not a static and neutral object that exists in a vacuum. Art is a dynamic and contested phenomenon that reflects and shapes the world we live in. Art is not only what we see, but also how we see it.
This is the main lesson that John Berger, the British writer, artist, and critic who died in 2017 at the age of 90, taught us through his groundbreaking work, Ways of Seeing. Based on a four-part BBC television series that aired in 1972, and later published as a book, Ways of Seeing revolutionized the field of art criticism and the public perception of art.
Berger challenged the dominant and elitist views of art that were based on the authority of experts, the canon of history, and the aesthetics of beauty. He exposed the ideological and economic forces that shaped the production, distribution, and consumption of art. He revealed the power and politics of images, and how they influenced our identity, culture, and society.
Berger did not just tell us what to think about art. He showed us how to think about art. He used innovative and provocative visual techniques, such as collage, montage, juxtaposition, and comparison, to illustrate his arguments and to invite the viewers to question and participate in the process of seeing.
One of his most famous examples is his analysis of the male gaze and the representation of women in art. He compared a series of European oil paintings of nude women, such as Titian’s Venus of Urbino and Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus, with contemporary images of women in magazines and advertisements. He demonstrated how these images were not innocent or natural, but rather constructed and manipulated to serve the interests and fantasies of men.
He also criticized the commodification and fetishization of art in the modern world. He showed how the original context and meaning of artworks were lost or distorted when they were reproduced, circulated, and consumed as commodities. He argued that the value and significance of art were not inherent or universal, but rather dependent and relative to the social and historical circumstances of their creation and reception.
Berger’s Ways of Seeing was not only a critique of art, but also a celebration of art. He did not dismiss or denigrate art, but rather appreciated and admired it. He did not reduce or simplify art, but rather enriched and complicated it. He did not close or limit art, but rather opened and expanded it.
He showed us that art was not a passive and fixed entity, but an active and fluid process. He showed us that art was not a matter of taste or preference, but a matter of perspective and interpretation. He showed us that art was not a luxury or a privilege, but a necessity and a right.
He showed us that art was not only for the few, but for the many. He showed us that art was not only for the experts, but for the amateurs. He showed us that art was not only for the spectators, but for the participants.
He showed us that art was not only for the past, but for the present. He showed us that art was not only for the museum, but for the street. He showed us that art was not only for the eye, but for the mind.
He showed us that art was not only a way of seeing, but a way of being.
