Going to the Morgue with Andres Serrano: Provocation as Revelation
Originally displayed in Paula Cooper Gallery in New York City’s SoHo district, Andres Serrano’s The Morgue series continued the artist’s controversial and transgressive work. Set against a black backdrop in a mortuary, he photographed dead bodies in different stages of decomposition. In this article...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
Religions
Year: 2022, Volume: 13, Issue: 6 |
| Further subjects: | B
Mortality
B Secularization B Flannery O’Connor B Grotesque B Andres Serrano B transgressive art B death and dying |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Originally displayed in Paula Cooper Gallery in New York City’s SoHo district, Andres Serrano’s The Morgue series continued the artist’s controversial and transgressive work. Set against a black backdrop in a mortuary, he photographed dead bodies in different stages of decomposition. In this article, I borrow from Charles Taylor’s cultural analysis of the secular and Flannery O’Connor’s literary theory of the revelatory power of the grotesque to discuss Serrano’s artistic choices. In essence, I argue that his work is not a desecration of humanity but a stark reminder of the sacralization of humanity. As such, Serrano’s work is not provocative for provocation’s sake, but a provocation to poke holes in a disenchanted age. Underneath Serrano’s images is the question: if this is a heap of flesh, why are you provoked? In a culture that avoids death at all costs, Serrano reminds the contemporary world of their mortality with an updated form of memento mori art. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3390/rel13060562 |
