The Architecture of Intent

A Critical Lexicon

This collection of studies is the intellectual architecture of Post-Luxury Conceptual Functional Art (PLCFA).

The true artistry of this Maison resides not in the finished form, but in the rigorous thinking that precedes it. These essays serve as the conceptual foundation for PLCFA, using a critical lens to interrogate cultural phenomena, art history, and consumer paradigms—analyzing everything from the ephemeral spectacle of luxury to the pure architectural rigor of abstract principles.

This is an invitation into the workshop of the mind. By sharing this process, we validate the necessity of a new category of value and invite you toward a well-considered life, one founded on true craft, uncompromising narrative, and durable meaning.

New to PLCFA? Begin with Essential Reading below.
Exploring a specific area? Navigate by category.

Foundational Theory
Art Historical Lineage
Contemporary Practice
Market Analysis & Collapse
Institutional Frameworks
Contemporary Critique
Institutional Case Studies
Essential Reading
Jadé Fadojutimi and the Eye of the Storm: Why 'Untitled' (2025) Dominates Frieze London 2025
Art Historical Lineage Christopher Banks Art Historical Lineage Christopher Banks

Jadé Fadojutimi and the Eye of the Storm: Why 'Untitled' (2025) Dominates Frieze London 2025

The VIP preview at Frieze is a blood sport dressed in couture. This year, the prize is a monumental new canvas by Jadé Fadojutimi, holding court at the Gagosian booth. But this is more than just a painting; it's a battleground. It is the artist's raw, private magic versus the market's public, brutal mathematics. A test of what we truly value: the authentic mark of a human hand, or the dizzying thrill of a number that only ever goes up. This is not just an analysis. It is a dispatch from the absolute center of the cultural storm, decoding the ritual, the psychology, and the price of a modern masterpiece.

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From Chicago to Frieze London 2025: The Story of Theaster Gates' Sanctuary Sounding Board
Art Historical Lineage Christopher Banks Art Historical Lineage Christopher Banks

From Chicago to Frieze London 2025: The Story of Theaster Gates' Sanctuary Sounding Board

Theaster Gates's genius lies not in a protest against the art market, but in its sanctification. His entire social practice functions as a deliberate act of spiritual alchemy, transforming the transactional nature of the art world into a powerful engine for urban redemption. He doesn’t just create sculptures; he engineers financial conduits where memory is monetized for public good. This study dissects Gates's Sanctuary Sounding Board—an object resurrected from a demolished Chicago church—not as a final product, but as a "bond" designed to initiate a "virtuous circle" of revitalization. This process, converting the symbolic value of salvaged history into tangible capital for his Rebuild Foundation, establishes his work as the ultimate case study for a Post-Luxury ethos. Gates proves that an artwork's highest value isn't measured in a gallery, but in the regenerative impact it has on the community from which it came.

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