Memento Mori in Contemporary Art

In their theologies and metaphysics, religions offer interpretations of problems that shape the human situation as religious thought understands it. In numbers that should not surprise us, but still do, some of the most interesting artists in the modern era have made a point of scrutinizing these problems, relying on religious imagery, narratives, and forms of experience to do so. Taylor Worley has selected four of them for careful scrutiny, leading readers through a perceptive and clearly written engagement with difficult art and variously tormented, angry, and haunted artists whose work demands a critical awareness of the relevance of religion for their creative provocations.

- David Morgan, Duke University, USA.

While talk of a spiritual dimension to art is commonplace, so too are protests against blasphemy in contemporary art. Basing his approach on a wealth of research, in this excitingly innovative work its author argues that Christians sometimes reach too easily for the latter label. Even notorious atheists such as Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst can unwittingly contribute to the appropriation of new insights into the significance of Christ’s death and our own. Far from being based on wishful thinking, Worley’s claims are supported by a thorough grounding in the aims of both art and theology which enables him to explain with other examples why some other artists (his selection includes Beuys, Gober, Ofili, Serrano, and Kiki Smith) are better at deepening the dialogue than others.

- David Brown, Emeritus Wardlaw Professor of Theology, Aesthetics and Culture at the University of St Andrews, UK.