Hi Matthew, this is a great article. I love your writing; it is poetic, engaging and accessible. However, I am having problems with your statement that Modern "art", as you might find it in many institutions, is mired in pretentiousness or obsession with gender and race categories" surely, it is about representation or the lack of, the exclusion of these groups. You go on to state that we fail to understand that the self is always a metaphor, a reaching for identity and representation. Is this not what some marginalised groups seek? They are seeking a voice that represents themselves. I am getting a bit jaded by the argument that the ill of the world stems from "others' seeking representation. The heteronormative, white world dominates the cultural landscape. Isn't there room for others? I can enjoy the Proms as much as the latest 'In the Black Fantastic' exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. I enjoy spending Saturday afternoons roaming around the Victoria and Albert Museum. I cannot help but feel that you are directing your disappointment at the wrong people. The people restricting the arts are the same people who resent gender and racial representation.