Dr Hans Maes interviewed in Belgian newspaper, De Morgen

Senior Lecturer at the School of Arts, Dr Hans Maes, and Petra van Brabandt (Sint Lucas Antwerpen) were recently interviewed for a feature in Belgian newspaper, De Morgen, about their new book, Kunst of Pornography: Een filosofische verkenning (Art or Pornography? A Philosophical Exploration).

Dr Maes explains, “Art or Porn? The popular media will often choose this heading when reviewing the latest sexually explicit novel, film, or art exhibition. The underlying assumption seems to be that the work under discussion has to be one or the other, and cannot be both. Hans Maes and Petra van Brabandt think this is a false dilemma. In their new book, “Kunst of Pornografie?”, they argue that pornography and art are not mutually exclusive and that the phrase “pornographic art,” far from being an oxymoron, actually designates a legitimate artistic category.”

Dr Hans Maes has authored papers on a wide variety of topics in aesthetics and the philosophy of art and culture, including the role of intention in the interpretation of art, the nature of portraiture, melancholy as an aesthetic emotion, the role of sexiness in contemporary culture, and the relation between art and pornography.

Find out more about Dr Hans Maes new book here.