What does it mean to write "This is not a pipe" across a bluntly literal painting of a pipe? By exploring the nuances and ambiguities of Magritte's visual critique of language, the author finds the painter less removed than previously thought from the pioneers of modern abstraction.



What does it mean to write "This is not a pipe" across a bluntly literal painting of a pipe? Rene Magritte's famous canvas provides the starting point for a delightful homage by French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault. Much better known for his incisive and mordant explorations of power and social exclusion, Foucault here assumes a more playful stance. By exploring the nuances and ambiguities of Magritte's visual critique of language, he finds the painter less removed than previously thought from the pioneers of modern abstraction.