Can Art be Separated From the Artist? or Scheme?

Written by Emir Taha Macit

The controversial question of whether one can ignore the immoral actions of an artist when approaching their art has been getting increasingly popular recently. While some believe art can still be appreciated even when its maker has said or done wrong things, others argue that, for various reasons, the art should also suffer the consequences of the artist’s actions. As both sides have reasonable arguments for their beliefs, this tricky debate rages on as new examples start to come up. And when going over both sides of the argument and analyzing examples of artists who have sparked this debate, the nuance of this whole discussion starts to show.

Before we begin taking a look at both sides of the debate, we must first know when this argument started gaining traction in recent years. Despite the likes of the question at hand being a discussion as far back as ancient Greece, our debate began coming to light towards the end of the 20th century, when artists such as Picasso, or more recent ones such as R. Kelly and Chris Brown, became a conversation around the topic of separating the art from the artist’s behavior. As years went by, new examples of controversial artists who have made well-liked pieces of art emerged, prompting the debate to come up time and time again.

Now, let’s start with the first side of the discourse, the side that suggests separating the art from the artist. Philosopher Roland Barthes and many others on this side think that once a work is released, it does not belong to the creator anymore, but to the audience. They think the meaning that is extracted from the art is done so by the consumers of it. Works of art may be understood on a personal level, which means the artist is not involved. They also think that, if the works of every immoral artist were criticized for their maker, many advancements in art could not have been made. An example of this is the famous painter Pablo Picasso, as we have mentioned before. His revolutionary contributions to art are widely known and are remembered to this day, decades after his death. But many do not remember who he really was. When looking into his life, Picasso turns out to be a misogynist and maybe even a sadist, according to some. According to this side’s argument, it all could have been forgotten if he had been held on the same account as his art. But many skeptics disagree.

On the other side of the debate, there are people who think the separation between art and the artist is not possible. A major part of this argument is that art is a reflection of the artist, a work that has been put together in a certain mental state the artist was in. For these people, when approaching art, it is hard to ignore the actions of the artist since they are the ones who have put all the thought and emotion into it. Not to mention that supporting the art means supporting the artist, therefore helping an immoral person. There are also cases of artists putting themselves in their art, which means sometimes it is inevitable to separate them. While there are many cases of artists reflecting their questionable actions in their works, a recent example of this is rapper King Von. Von was a famous rapper whose works often depicted high levels of gang violence, sometimes rapping about the gangster life and shootings. Many were appalled at his lifestyle and actions, so they chose not to listen to his music. He was sadly shot and killed by a rival gang in 2020.

In conclusion, separating the art from the artist may not be an easy task in some cases. But sometimes, it may be healthier to separate them. This debate is an important one, and defines a great part of how we see art, either as a reflection of the artist or a piece that is given meaning by the audience. The discussion will keep coming up as new cases do, and it is better to act according to the specifics of the case

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2. Adele Jackson-Gibson, “How to Identify Hustle Culture and What You Can Do to Break Away From It”, Good Housekeeping, 2021, https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a38416524/hustle-culture

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