The vulgar, the grotesque, the camp, the repulsive - these elements are often rejected as distasteful or excessive, yet they continue to intrigue us. They demand our attention, challenging our instincts. What is it about the ugly that’s so compelling? How does this oppose our ideas of taste and aesthetics? Why do we find beauty in what is meant to repel?
Think about how we view unconventional beauty for a second. We don’t look in the mirror and appreciate the dark circles under our own eyes, protruding bones, or the unwelcome wrinkles and the ways in which our skin folds - yet when artists depict these features they become beautiful. Egon Schiele’s twisted figures, Jenny Saville’s fleshy, unidealised bodies, or the exaggerated grotesquerie of Leigh Bowery’s performances all subvert traditional beauty standards, forcing us to reconsider what is ‘ugly’ and why.
Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait, 1911
Isn’t there a strange disconnect between how we perceive these details in reality vs how we celebrate them in art?
Last year, I started collecting all my thoughts, research and inspirations on the vulgar in art. Stemming from a fascination with the ugly, this became the foundation of my Master’s project. But since completing my proposal, all of this has been collecting metaphorical dust in Notion. Rather than keeping it buried in my private notes, I wanted a space to throw everything out into the open. Somewhere to track my research, explore ideas freely, and most importantly, spark conversation.
As I explore the grotesque and its intersections with fashion, digital media, and contemporary art, I want to dig into trends, taste, and the ever-shifting boundaries of what’s considered ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in art and fashion - unpacking ideas surrounding anti-fashion, the rejection of traditional aesthetics, and the ways trends embrace or resist the vulgar.
I also want this space to highlight the artists and designers who have shaped my thinking, those who reject conventional beauty in favour of something raw, unsettling, or deliberately excessive. I will also be sharing my own art, creative processes and experiments, opening myself up to much-welcomed critique along the way.
So, consider this the first entry into what will (hopefully) become an ongoing brain dump regarding the ugly, the weird and the vulgar. X