One of the world’s leading commentators on design and popular culture attempts to answer the timeless question: “Is there such a thing as ugliness . . . or are aesthetic judgments purely a matter of taste?” Art director Steve Heller joins Bayley in conversation.

About UGLY:

Without ugliness, beauty would fail to have meaning; if everything were beautiful, nothing would be.  Beauty and ugliness exist on the same plane, and their interconnectedness is both puzzling and absolute.

These assertions derived from world-renowned tastemaker on design and pop culture Stephen Bayley grace the pages of UGLY: The Aesthetics of Everything, his provocative study on what determines beauty in our world. For the first time in a comprehensive cultural critique, Bayley challenges known aesthetic with hard questions: What makes something ugly or beautiful? What do differing opinions say about each person’s taste and culture? How is it that something beautiful can turn ugly over time or vice versa?

Lavishly illustrated with reproduced paintings, sculpture, and photographs on almost every page, UGLY combines these vibrant visuals with Bayley’s insightful, honest essays.  Weaving together centuries of art, culture, history, and popular opinion, his wisdom and wit cuts to the heart of humanity’s instinctive and eternal search for beauty.

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