Robert Tanitch reviews the latest art book
Art + Religion in the 21st Century by Aaron Rosen (Thames & Hudson £19.95).
But what is the difference between the sacred and the profane? What is your reaction to David LaChapelle’s American Jesus with Michael Jackson, Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ and Chris Ofili’s The Holy Virgin Mary (painted with elephant dung)?
However, the artists who aim just to shock are rare. What Aaron Rosen’s book makes you aware of is that there are multiple ways artists engage with religion; far more than you might think; and, importantly, they provide new topics and resources for interfaith dialogue.
I was much taken in particular with Kris Kuksi’s potent Churchtank; Mark Wallingham’s Ecce Homo, Christ as a life-size human being; Rachel Whitehead’s moving holocaust memorial, Nameless Library; Mark Rothko’s beautiful uncluttered non-denominational chapel; Maurizio Cattelan’s dramatic and highly controversial Pope John felled by a meteorite and Paul Cummins and Tom Piper’s amazing and deeply moving poppy memorial at the Tower of London.
Handsomely illustrated, and at a bargain price, there is much more to like and, of course, quite rightly, dislike.
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