Graffiti Beau Monde

"I decided to call this exhibition Beau Monde for various reasons. First, because, many years ago, I wrote a book about beauty and have ever since been dubbed as the "beauty guy" by the popular press. It seemed best to beard this seedy lion in its den. Second, because the show was sched- uled to open on Bastille Day, when the French celebrate the death of an antique beau monde. This seemed an appropriate birthday for a new beau monde. Finally, the expression, beau monde refers literally to a beautiful world and figuratively to an elite social milieu. Like any good democrat, I wished to conflate these meanings and create a beautiful, non-exclusionary social milieu beau monde generally, rather than le beau monde specifically. Also, I wished to comment obliquely on the international art world, which, at present, is a beau monde not much concerned with the beaux-arts." - Text by Curator Dave Hickey for the exhibition catalog