Abstract

Krukowski, a painter/philosopher, tries to understand postmodern art and then speculates about what post-postmodern art will be. He gives a valuable account of the roots of modernism in 19th C philosophy and of its slide into skepticism about art serving any epistemic function. Postmodern aesthetics though is just an inconsistent mix of modernist ideas and their opposites. Postmodern artists believed themselves creative only by coming up with a work, or an idea, unconnected to modernism. Post-postmodernists will likely do the same to postmodernism since they too are constrained to deny any purpose or progress in art. In that case, Krukowski thinks, art will remain local and marginal, or end altogether. (In the sequel most artists now ignore the philosophical conundrum and get on with producing works, sometimes playful, sometimes deep, sometimes beautiful. This 21st C eclecticism is a welcome respite from the theory wars.)