Religion and Contemporary Art

Religion and Contemporary Art sets the theoretical frameworks and interpretive strategies for exploring the re-emergence of religion in the making, exhibiting, and discussion of contemporary art. Featuring essays from both established and emerging scholars, critics, and artists, the book reflects on what might be termed an "accord" between contemporary art and religion. It explores the common strategies contemporary artists employ in the interface between religion and contemporary art practice. It also includes case studies to provide more in-depth treatments of specific artists grappling with themes such as ritual, abstraction, mythology, the body, popular culture, science, liturgy, and social justice, among other themes. It is a must-read resource for working artists, critics, and scholars in this field, and an invitation to new voices "curious" about its promises and possibilities.

Ronald R. Bernier is Professor of Humanities at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA. His books include The Unspeakable Art of Bill Viola (2014), Beyond Belief (2010), and Monument, Moment, and Memory: Monet's Cathedral in Fin-de-Siècle France (2007). His research interests are modern and contemporary art and religious studies. Rachel Hostetter Smith is Gilkison Distinguished Professor of Art History at Taylor University. She publishes widely on aspects of religion and the arts, including two edited volumes of Religion and the Arts and several exhibition catalogues, and has developed numerous international, intercultural art projects and traveling exhibitions, most recently Matter + Spirit: A Chinese/American Exhibition.

Introduction Ronald R. Bernier and Rachel Hostetter Smith Part I: Theoretical and Interpretative Frameworks 1. The New Visibility of Religion in Contemporary Art: Four Interpretive Horizons Jonathan A. Anderson 2. Exploring Theological Dimensions of the Work of Art Linda Stratford 3. Translating Religion: Contemporary Art Through a Postsecular Lens Lieke Wijnia 4. The Question of Criticism: What to Do with Our Revelations? Jeffrey L. Kosky 5. Curating Faith: Art, Religion, and the Curatorial Daniel A. Siedell 6. A Loving Regard: Contemporary Art and Expanding the Archive Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt 7. Exhibition as Pilgrimage: Visual Strategies for Interfaith Dialogue Aaron Rosen Part II: Artistic Strategies 8. Iconic: Contemporary Portraiture and Sacred Personhood Katie Kresser 9. Relic-ing Now: Reliquary Strategies of Materiality and Memory in Contemporary Art Cynthia Hahn 10. Contemporary Art as Pilgrimage Site: Ambrosio's As Far as the Eye Can Travel Zine Kathryn Barush 11. Rogue Priests: Ritual, Sacrament, and Witness in Contemporary Art Rachel Hostetter Smith 12. Walking Naked and Barefoot: When Ancient Jewish Prophets Meet Avant-Garde Performance Artists Wayne L. Roosa 13. Revisiting "Art in the Dark": Thomas McEvilley, Performance Art, and the End(s) of Shamanism Karen Gonzalez Rice 14. Infused with Light: Christian Traces in Multimedia Installation Art Jorge Sebastián Lozano 15. Bill Viola, the Icon, and the Apophatic Sublime Ronald R. Bernier Part III: Case Studies of Artists and Artworks 16. The Lived Religion of Andy Warhol Stephen Bush 17. "A King Aesthetic?": Tim Rollins and K.O.S. and the Ethos of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. James Romaine 18. From the Wounds Grace: John August Swanson and the Theological Aesth/Ethics of Liberation Cecilia González-Andrieu 19. Cities of Light: Phillip K. Smith III and the Light & Space Movement Matthew J. Milliner 20. Performativity and the Flesh: The Economy of the Icon in Lia Chavez's Light Body Julie M. Hamilton 21. Theaster Gates and the Good Use of Forgotten Things Donato Loia 22. On Preaching, Performance Art, and Television: Christian Jankowski's The Holy Artwork Isabelle Loring Wallace 23. Tools of the Apocalypse: Eschatology in Contemporary Jewish and Catholic Art Ben Schachter 24. Back to the Garden - Utopia and Paradise in the work of Jim Shaw, Liza Lou, Shirin Neshat, and Shoja Azari Eleanor Heartney 25. Deep Waters: Art and the Revival of Religion in Contemporary China Patricia Eichenbaum Karetzky 26. Salvation in the Fallen World: On Meng Yan's Recent Monumental Works Changping Zha 27. Chrysanne Stathacos and Charwei Tsai: The Mandala Haema Sivanesa 28. Performing Memory and Mourning: Diane Victor's Martyred Women Karen von Veh 29. Weaving Land and Water: On the Poetics of Diasporic and Indigenous Resistance Yohana Agra Junker 30. Al Buraq: Explorations of Liminality in Contemporary Islamic Art Sascha Crasnow Afterword: A Colloquy with Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, James Elkins, Ben Quash, and S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate. Contributors: Biographical Notes Credits Index