Television painting icon Bob Ross famously said, “It’s the imperfections that make something beautiful.” In “Ugly Pretty,” leading artists, art professionals, and creatives delve into the idea of imperfect beauty by analyzing a single artwork. Through their perspectives, we uncover how these unique works reshape the way we view the world. Listen as they describe the artwork in their own words.

This photograph by artist Wolfgang Tillmans is taken from above the cloud line. There’s a thick layer of white clouds with a blue sky behind them. Breaking through the clouds is a billowing plume of white smoke. From the title of the work, we know this plume is coming from the chimney of a power station, though the chimney itself is not visible. All we see is this plume of white smoke rising, breaking through the clouds, and casting a shadow over them.

The artist generously lent me this image for the launch of Murmur this year. It’s a new initiative—a charity focused on the art and music industries—designed to channel funds from businesses in these sectors into impactful environmental projects. Wolfgang has been very supportive of this idea, as well as the broader responsibility these industries have toward the planet. It’s such a powerful image to use at the inception of a new environmental initiative. It conveys so much without needing words, and it felt perfect for the moment.

The image itself is quite beautiful, but it kind of depicts the interruption of natural beauty by something man-made, that is, of all things, a power station, generating power. As with all great art, it’s very nuanced. It’s not didactic or heavy-handed or kind of openly critical, but it is a reminder, implicit reminder, of man’s impact on nature and on the planet. You could interpret the power station as kind of marring this perfect view of a cloud line, but the plume of white is also beautiful in itself.

Wolfgang Tillmans, lignin duress (d), 2014. Presented at Gallery Climate Coalition’s Frieze booth in 2021. © Wolfgang Tillmans, courtesy Maureen Paley, London.

This duality—its beauty and the discomfort of knowing where it originates and its broader implications—gives the work its power. That’s the brilliance of art and artists: they inspire us to see the world differently in ways that words and facts often cannot.

As told to Margaret Carrigan at Art For Tomorrow in Venice (June 5–7, 2024), where Artnet was an official content partner. Audio production provided by executive producer Sonia Manalili.

Victoria Siddall is the founding director of Murmur, co-founder and trustee of the Gallery Climate Coalition, and a non-executive director at Frieze. She was appointed as director of London’s National Portrait Gallery in August 2024.