Open to All | Free to Join | No Registration Required
Join us at BICA School for a casual, come-as-you-are reading group that welcomes everyone—whether you’ve read the text cover to cover or just want to hear what others have to say. We’ll explore critical and curious texts together in a space that values open conversation, listening, and learning.
Read ahead if you can, but there’s no pressure to be an expert—just bring your thoughts, questions, and curiosity.
What made Édouard Manet’s Olympia so shocking—and what does that shock still tell us about modern life, class, and the act of looking?
In this chapter from his groundbreaking book, T.J. Clark places Olympia not just in art history, but in the messy, changing world of 19th-century Paris. With sharp analysis and rich historical context, Clark explores how the painting challenged polite taste and forced viewers to confront the realities of modern urban life—race, sex, money, and power included.
It’s a bold take on a bold painting. Let’s dig in together.