Eretica The Transcendent and the Profane in Contemporary Art

Focussing on the concepts of the sacred and spirituality, Heretics looks at themes such as the contrast between good and evil, sacredness, and the relationship between eroticism, sex and death in the production of forty contemporary artists, including Marina Abramovic, Nobuyoshi Araki, Matthew Barney, Vanessa Beecroft, Maurizio Cattelan, Robert Mapplethorpe, Paul McCarthy, Jenny Saville, and Joel-Peter Witkin, to name a few. The theme of the body and the relationship with the transcendent was not new to the art of the twentieth century, but it gained special importance from the 1970s onwards. As illustrated in this volume, in contrast to themes relating to the bionic body (a tendency established in the 1990s with the term post human), some of the more salient themes in contemporary art highlight an increasing desire for transcendence, placing importance on issues such as religious interaction, rebellion against dogma, piety and sacredness. This richly illustrated book includes an anthology of compelling essays by prominent philosophers, anthropologists, authors, and art historians including Jean Baudrillard, George Bataille, Roger Callois, Arthur C. Danto, Vito Mancuso, Michel Maffesoli, Pierre Riches, Julien Ries, Arturo Schwarz, Gore Vidal, Faye Waddleton, and others.