Camille Paglia at the Free Library
If you missed Camille Paglia’s lecture at the Free Library about her new book, Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art from Egypt to Star Wars, you’re in luck. The library has posted audio from the event in which the UArts prof and controversial author reads from her book and discusses a passionate tour of images in art from ancient times until today.
In the book, Paglia analyzes more than two dozen seminal images from Western art – everything from the ancient tomb of Queen Nefertari to George Lucas’ planet duel in Revenge of the Sith. She’s always found novel ways of arguing about pop culture’s resonance while comparing the seemingly incomparable – paintings, movies, architecture and music. And while she vibrantly praises some of the most important works of art (or at least the ones she believes merits inclusion) she also paints a rather somber portrait of the current status of the avant garde, saying that it’s anything but alive and well.
