Curator's Column: Death, A Modern Masterpiece
“Memento mori” from the Latin expression meaning “remember you must die”
Death has been artist’s morbid obsession for centuries. The universal theme of mortality can be seen in many modern works, and death remains firmly established as a central theme in contemporary art. However it became truly popular with the advent of Christianity. The emphasis in this era was on divine judgment, Heaven, Hell, and the salvation of the soul, which brought death to the forefront of consciousness. Memento mori art of early Christianity and the Middle Ages emphasized the fleeting nature of life and the dangers in our earthly pleasures. Some art historians have even went so far as to describe Christian art as a “death Cult”.
Death really came into its own during the baroque period and the Golden Age of Dutch artists, during these periods the “vanitas” paintings were born. The origins of the term date back to the Latin biblical aphorism: vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas (Ecclesiates 1:2) [Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.] Vanitas paintings would typically contain a range of different symbols, traditionally a skull would symbolize death, other symbols commonly found in vanitas works are hour glasses or clocks, extinguished or flickering candles, decaying fruit, and flowers, all existing to remind that our earthly pursuits are worthless.
One of my favourite examples of a vanitas painting from this period is Adriaen van Utrecht - Vanitas, composition with flowers and skull. Although there are still many contemporary artists who are inspired by this theme, the caveat has completely changed, a great example of this is within Frank E Hollywood’s works, in his own words: “History likes to repeat itself. Our age is one of self-indulgence and it has a lot of parallels with the 17th century and late 19th century. Globalisation and the technological revolution have generated unprecedented opportunities, both good and bad. Vanity is no longer immoral or perverse instead it is considered a virtue to be rewarded with likes. “
For centuries artists have used the skull as the ultimate symbolic image to express themes of mortality. From the hidden skull in Hans Holbein’s, The Ambassadors (1533) to Warhol’s series of skulls (1976) both works the have a stark reminder that life is precious.
Whether it be the artists own obsession with their own mortality or as a celebration of life, artists have been grappling with the same subject with very different results.
Picassos became obsessed with the passing of time towards the latter end of his life, his output of work was prolific, he created more works then than during any other time in his career, each piece was meticulously dated, almost as if he wanted to crystalize time.
Warhol is known for becoming obsessed by death after his near death experience when he was shot by a disgruntled ex assistant in his Factory. During the last decade of Warhol’s life, a new note of prophetic darkness cast its shadow over the body of work that he produced, the anonymous traffic accidents and the electric chairs have a much more charged presence than the pop icons. In those years, death – always an important theme for Warhol – became, arguably, his principal subject.
Hirst has created countless works with references to death, from his shark in formaldehyde to his decorated skulls. “I’ve got an obsession with death,” the contentious British artist once said. “But I think it’s like a celebration of life rather than something morbid.”
Hirst arguably went on to make the skull a cool cult image, his diamond encrusted skull still a controversial talking matter amongst the art world.
One of my favourite artists who explore the skull motif is Magnus Gjoen, whose works examine beauty, death and destruction. His sharp aesthetic mixes skulls, flowers, weapons, religious iconography and hearts to juxtapose the powerful against the fragile, questioning the relationship between religion, war, creativity, beauty and destruction. Here we are presented with the dichotomy of life and death, its frailty, beauty and ultimately its demise. With Magnus’s work however I think the message is a celebration of life, the connotations of death are there also but serve more of a reminder to enjoy life to its fullest while we can.
Another artist whose works focus on the memento mori theme is Jean-Luc Almond whose works are inspired by Victorian death masks, Victorians themselves were obsessed with death, they would often create death portraits and death masks. Jean Luc’s work is inspired by this morbid Victorian obsession but his work is born out of transition, he destroys the original image and the paintings transform themselves through the material itself, creating and destroying layers, the mediums itself gains a vitality. “I am interested in the transformations that can take place when I am no longer a slave to the image and the painting becomes about paint and surface.”
The theme of death has permeated through the history of art and will continue do so, there is always a level of individual interpretation with art however with memento mori works I think the message is pretty simple, life is short, enjoy it while you can. Death – a celebration of life.
Leontia Reilly
Love to Death runs from May 6th - 29th at Leontia Gallery
1 White Conduit Street, Angel, N1 9EL
http://www.leontiagallery.com/
Image credit in order of appearance:
Dina Holdstein - Headless
Louise McNaught - Last of the Alchemists
