Yves Michaud is a philosopher, art critic and university professor. Yves Michaud’s works focus on political philosophy, the evolution of arts and contemporary culture in a globalized world, the relationships between the individual and society, on phenomena of inner as well as international violence. He has taught philosophy at the University of Paris I (Sorbonne), and the universities of Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier, Marseille, Rouen, Berkeley (USA), Edinburgh (Great Britain), Tunis (Tunisia), Sao Paulo (Brazil). He has been Program Director at the International College of Philosophy and member of the Institut Universitaire de France.
Experience
- In 2000, he created the University of All Knowledge (Utls), a free university that disseminates the latest results of scientific research.
- In 1989, he was entrusted by the Minister of Culture Jack Lang to reform the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, which he directed until 1996, giving it an international reputation.
- He is an expert consultant to the Ministry of National Education from 1988 to 1992, as well as a member of the Conseil Supérieur de la Recherche et de la Technologie.
- He was editor-in-chief of the Cahiers du Musée National d’Art Moderne of the Georges Pompidou center from 1986 to 1990.
Quotes
- “Visual art has become relatively pasteurized, but there is room to ‘change the course’.”
- “In our country, artists are too protected. The system, locked by bureaucracy, does not encourage them to take risks. More important, their relationship to the international dimension is null.”
- “Between what has already been done and what is forbidden, artists do not dare very much.”
- “We continue to believe that art has to aim transgression, but actually, nowadays, this does not go very far: boldness is ritualized and supervised.”
- “Our living artists are saints, respectful of justice, public opinion, moral correction and lobbies.”
- “The only transgressions that persist are clandestine, ignored even by the art world.”
- “To me, history of art is absolutely not linear. At a point, there is a range of possibilities and artists can change their tune instead of stubbornly staying in a cul-de-sac.”
- “The true boldness nowadays is to move, to go to something else, to other forms.”
- “I quickly learned that interesting things never take place where they are expected.”
- “Today, judgement of value is done very brutally at auctions.”
Publications
- “What is merit? “Bourin, ed. 2009.
- “Art in a Gaseous State: an Essay on the Triumph of Aesthetics”, Paris, Éd. Stock, 2003.