Almost worse than some of the degraded pictures that nowadays deface the art scene and demoralize the public is some of the criticism that is written to justify them. And we dont mean the kind of criticism that is confined to obscurantist academic journals. Today the practice of praising, well, cmp, has entered the mainstream, as we were recently appalled to discover in, of all places, Londons two leading conservative newspapers, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, on the occasion of a new exhibition devoted to the work of Gilbert & George. Please forgive the language, but the exhibition was called "Gilbert & George: The Naked Shit Pictures."

It needs to be pointed out, perhaps, for those who do not keep up with such esoteric matters, that the copious team of Gilbert & George enjoys a celebrity on the London art scene somewhat akin to that of the late Andy Warhol. Many people regard them, indeed, as having prod ...

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