Elizabeth Schambelan on criticism - Artforum International

For all its good intentions, art that tries to minister to its audience by showcasing moral aspirants and paragons or the abject victims of political oppression produces smug, tiresome works that are failures both as art and as agitprop. Artists and critics—their laurel bearers—should take heed.

At its best, cultural criticism is love and art that exists to give love to other expressions of art. It's beautiful in its indulgence.