By Tomi Peh (26S06P)
“Separating the art from the artist” is a famous moral dilemma that has long been the topic of debate when casting judgement on art. It presents itself so commonly and is so entwined in the way we view art in fact, even in the process of writing this article, a fresh, prime example of this dilemma seemingly materialised out of nowhere – popular music artist, David Anthony Burke.
David Anthony Burke, better known by his stage name ‘d4vd‘, is a well-acclaimed alternative/indie pop artist, rising to fame around July of 2022 with his song titled “Romantic Homicide”, which currently sits at around 1.7 billion streams on Spotify.
Controversy struck, when the deceased body of 15 year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in the trunk of David’s car. It didn’t take long for bits and pieces of evidence of a relation between David and Celeste to begin surfacing on the internet, which prompted a multitude of different accusations upon David, including serious allegations of murder and having an illicit relationship with the 15 year-old. Many fans now view him in a completely different light— the thought that the music they were listening to might be in reference to the now-deceased Celeste lingers in the back of their minds.
But this is not the first time a popular music artist has come under fire from the masses due to their actions.
A few months ago, I was faced with a jarring sight on my Instagram’s “For You Page”. It was a simple screenshot of a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) — in which music artist, Kanye West, shared explicit details about his childhood that lead to the creation of his new track.
At that point, I was familiar with the heaps of controversies stemming from his opinions on social media. However, this incident got me thinking: Is it valid to separate the art from the artist? How much can or should we tolerate before an artist’s actions detract the value of their art?
When you think of a “good” artist, what do you imagine? Most of us may imagine an artist who has created many distinguishable, iconic pieces of art that stand the test of time, or an artist who consistently produces objectively good pieces of art.
But is it the artist or the art that is “good“?
Kanye, Kendrick Lamar, Van Gogh and Robert Pattinson. What do these people all have in common? They are all artists with well known pieces of art, albeit with differing levels of fame and recognition for their works. Not only that, these artists also have different levels of association with their works, some having their art synonymous with their name, others who are recognised as personalities aside from their art. This, in turn, also gives us a glimpse into what happens when you do or do not separate the art from the artist.
When a piece of art is held in high regard, people often praise and analyse the artpiece; every brushstroke, every lyric, every scene is judged critically. Inevitably, this leads to scrutiny of the artists themselves. Whatever medium it may be, pieces of art have always been judged in conjunction with their artists’ reputation. Newer, smaller artist? Pretentious and hipsterish. Popular artist? Too mainstream, overrated. No matter how spectacular, mediocre, or downright horrendous a piece of art may be, they always carry the brand of their artists.
This in turn, heeds the need for a change in perspective on how we view art in relation to its artist. Shall we continue to judge pieces of art in tandem with their artists’ actions and behaviors, or should we take the unbiased approach — seeing the art for what it really is, and represents?
This is the dilemma of separating the art from the artist.
On the surface, this might seem straightforward. “Of course the unbiased approach would be more objective”, you may think. Art from problematic artists and underrated artists limited by exposure would be viewed in fair light. However, if all art was judged as such, art that holds deeper meaning intertwined with their artist’s background lose their value.
Case Study 1: Kanye West and his controversies
Kanye is widely regarded as one of the most popular and influential rap artists of the century, yet his controversies range far and wide, tainting his reputation— and along with it, the public’s view of his music.
Before the controversies, he was well respected in the music industry, serving as an inspiration for many, and had significant influence on both fans and rappers alike. In fact, Kanye’s “The College Dropout”, “Graduation”, and “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” (just to name a few) were considered iconic rap albums by the masses.
However, after many infamous incidents where Kanye had expressed erratic and offensive statements on various platforms, public perception of him began to decline, to the point where fans would be given distasteful looks or shunned for expressing admiration for his work. Many began criticising his albums, in areas whereby they would not have been criticised before, particularly the lyrical content in his songs. Numerous fans came to his defence, half-jokingly quoting, “but he made Graduation”, excusing his outrageous remarks, trying to salvage what little reputation he had left.
How far could his work shield him from criticism and public judgement?
Only so far. He lost brand deals with Balenciaga and Adidas, was dropped by talent agency CAA, and even his long term record deal with Def Jam went unrenewed. Most importantly, he lost credibility and respect within his own community, and the support for his art that came with it.
In the eyes of many, his art could no longer be viewed in the same lens as before. Eventually, people became desensitised to his antics and came to a realisation that Kanye’s actions did not define his work. People began to differentiate him and his art, separating the music—praised for its beats and lyricism—from his image, now clouded by controversy and contempt. This allowed fans to once again appreciate what once were, and still are, great works of music.
This is why separating the art from the artist is an integral tool in not only creating constructive criticism for art, but also for appreciating and understanding art for what it is. It distils our clouded judgement of artists, allowing for opinions to be based solely on quality, letting love or hate for a piece of art be rooted in its merits, rather than an extension of emotion towards the artist.
Update:
As of April 2026, Kanye officially returned to the stage. Without notice or promotion, tickets for his concert on the 1st and 3rd of April were instantly sold out. A million people in queue for online ticket sales, a total of nearly 160 thousand tickets sold.
A display of influence as big as this exposes that despite his array of controversies, fans still flock to attend his concerts, whether it was to witness his comeback to the stage or to simply experience his music live, showing that fans could appreciate Kanye and his performance separate from his views.
Case Study 2: Robert Pattinson and his range of roles in films
Robert Pattinson, more famously known as “the Twilight guy”, saw his acting career skyrocket since his first major acting role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight series.
While it did bring him fame, and along with it many opportunities to advance his acting career, it also had some unintended consequences of subjecting him to typecasting—a direct consequence of fans and film directors seeing him not as an actor who could play the role of a vampire romantic, but as THE edgy, lovestricken character himself.
Being too iconic had become a curse, as his ability to take on more diverse roles with greater complexity was doubted, particularly roles as serious or non-romantic characters.
As an actor, Robert Pattinson couldn’t simply choose to break out of this cycle of typecasting. He was Edward Cullen. Having to portray specific, curated personas on screen, actors simply do not truly have the ability to broadcast their true range, their real acting ability to most if not all of their audience. This makes it hard for actors to branch out and find roles different from what they have already played, especially when those roles lack depth and are poorly written.
In fact, Robert Pattinson had to take on various smaller roles in indie films such as The Rover and Good Time just to draw film directors’ attention to his broad acting range.
This strategy of taking on smaller roles to showcase his potential worked, as he later landed the role of Batman in The Batman (2022), which marked a significant breakthrough in his acting career.
Switching from the brooding, romantic vampire Edward Cullen to the stoic, serious and calculative Batman was certainly a U-turn for Robert Pattinson . With enough diversity in his art, he was able to separate himself from his role as Edward Cullen, proving his talent in acting at last.
The application of linking the artist and their art
While separating the art from the artist is generally a mindset adopted in evaluating and appreciating most pieces of art, the converse is not without its merits.
When art is separated from the artist, meaning in the art related to the artist themselves–their character, niche references to their personalities, anecdotes and values–are lost in the process, making some pieces of art less profound, less impactful. Most evidently, films with significant emotional value and lyrics with hidden meanings, have many layers and complexity in their content, only truly understood when interpreted in relation to their artists.
This can also be seen in visual arts such as paintings or sketches. A famous example would be Van Gogh. Throughout his career, he made many visually stunning artworks, but was never recognised until after his death.
Hidden behind these paintings was a struggling painter who, despite his wondrous artistic capabilities, was widely speculated to have suffered from an array of mental disorders such as bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. His art used striking and intense colour, perhaps reflecting his emotionally heightened state of mind.
Later on in his life, when he suffered from an even more deteriorated mental state, he had a sudden burst of productivity, producing paintings at a staggering output, becoming more experimental and bold with colour choices, canvas sizes and compositions.
When put together, his artworks accurately present his mental state throughout his life and career. He was a great artist who used paintings as a means of expressing his turbulent emotions. When an artist expresses themselves fully through their art, we should view them as a collective, a piece of art in and of itself.
Another prime example is Kendrick Lamar and his storytelling through lyrics. Kendrick Lamar is a highly appraised rapper, famous for his lyricism. His album “DAMN.” was so critically acclaimed, it won a Pulitzer Prize.
The album fundamentally centres around self-reflection of his ‘weakness’ and ‘wickedness’– songs reflected both his wrongdoings and his areas for improvement. When the album is played in order, it constructs a story of Kendrick overcoming his weakness and wickedness to live another day; when played in reverse order, it tells a story of him succumbing to his wickedness and weakness, resulting in his eventual death.
Even more intriguing, the last song on the album, titled “Duckworth”, is the story of how a series of coincidences in his early childhood led to his path as an artist, a story of how morality successfully changed and sealed his fate.
The album itself is an engaging listen. But when combined with the context of its artist’s self-reflection, you realise that the stories told in the album are not just random, disjointed anecdotes, but rather all experiences that shaped Kendrick’s life and his views on morality, reinforcing the album’s theme of reflecting upon his own flaws. The realisation breathes a whole new meaning into the album.
Should we separate the art from the artist?
In most cases, separating the art from the artist is perfectly valid. It allows us to be more objective in defining what we perceive as good art, in some cases distinguishing great pieces of art from reputations that taint their image.
In cases where the artists’ words and behaviors do not coincide with the messages of their art, we should separate the art from the artist. However, in cases where art carries hateful, offensive meaning, we should take a step back to evaluate what the artist stands for, and whether the artist truly intended for any harm that arose from their art.
Whether intentional or not, it helps us distinguish the features of the art piece that made it come across as harmful, be it the way it was portrayed to the audience or more simply the nature of the art itself, ultimately allowing the audience to form informed opinions on both the art and the artist.
Sometimes separating the art from the artist can be detrimental to our understanding of art. In those instances, perhaps we should view them in conjunction to gain full appreciation for the art as a whole, rather than separate entities.
Ultimately, we should take a flexible approach to using this tool—in a way that deepens our appreciation for art rather than limiting it, to break away from the effects of bandwagoning, and to form our own opinions on art, all while keeping our perspectives open.
