Encountering the Spiritual in Contemporary Art

An in-depth and current investigation of how the spiritual is manifestly present in contemporary art The spiritual is everywhere evident in contemporary art, and this publication fulfills a long-awaited need. Encountering the Spiritual in Contemporary Art addresses the subject in depth for the first time in over three decades. It significantly broadens the scope of previous studies to include new media and non-Western and Indigenous art (in addition to that of the West), presents art from diverse cultures with equal status, promotes cultural specificity, and moves beyond notions of “center and periphery,” celebrating the plurality and global nature of contemporary art today. Major essays based on cultural affinities are interspersed with brief thematic essays to provide diverse perspectives and expand the knowledge of academic and general audiences.Encountering the Spiritual provides an alternative to the main currents of presentation and interpretation prevalent in contemporary art, appealing to believers, agnostics, and inveterate skeptics alike. This essential publication demonstrates that the need to address the fundamental questions of life are both innate and ongoing.

A lavishly illustrated photographic journey through the history and traditions of the ancient churches of Ethiopia. The ancient Aksumite Kingdom, now a part of Ethiopia, was among the first in the world to adopt Christianity as the official state rel...

Mater Misericordiae―Mother of Mercy―emerged as one of the most prolific subjects in central Italian art from the late thirteenth through the sixteenth centuries. With iconographic origins in Marian cult relics brought from Palestine to Constantin...

Early rabbis referred to a cemetery as a house of the living. Beloved promises to show you why. Since its creation 173 years ago by one of Memphis, Tennessee’s earliest Jewish settlers, the Temple Israel Cemetery has become a permanent place of bea...

Ten years of visionary artwork from a rare artist embraced by critics, spiritual leaders, and the general public during his lifetime. * Includes essays on Grey's work by the renowned art critic Donald Kuspit and by Stephen Larsen, author of Fire in ...