Routledge · 2024
Art, Elitism, Authenticity and Liberty
Navigating Paradox
A critical examination of the tensions between artistic freedom, cultural elitism, and the politics of authenticity in contemporary art and society.
Buy from RoutledgeAuthor · Critic · Academic
Writing from the edges of culture.
Paul Clements is the author of five books on outsider art, cultural exclusion and the politics of everyday life — most recently Art, Elitism, Authenticity and Liberty (Routledge, 2024).
Selected Books
Five volumes, two decades.
Routledge · 2020
The Outsider, Art and Humour
An investigation into the figure of the outsider in art and the disruptive, liberating role of humour as a tool for cultural critique.
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Routledge · 2016
The Creative Underground
Art, Politics and Everyday Life
On underground and counter-cultural art practices, the politics of everyday life, and the spaces where culture is genuinely made.
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“I'm drawn to what culture leaves out — to the outsider, the underground, the awkward and the inconvenient. Writing is how I try to take those things seriously.”
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