![]() The beginning of this essay will introduce two works by each artist and examine how they negotiate the assumption that it is unnecessary to depict the corpse. Serrano presides over the photographic medium, while Margolles tends towards a process that depicts the corpse as a physical object or by the residues left behind after post-mortem examinations. It is death infecting life” and while it is not always ethically justifiable, the depiction of the corpse is a powerful way to engage a viewer yet it must be negotiated carefully.Īmerican artist Andres Serrano and Mexican artist Teresa Margolles both use the corpse in their art, in an attempt to return dignity to the anonymous or forgotten corpse. As Julia Kristeva asserts the corpse is “the utmost abjection. The depiction of the corpse in contemporary art is a necessary evil that raises issues regarding the management of the ‘corpse’ as a physical and symbolic entity. ![]() ![]() The corpse presides over the history of art, manifested in the didactic symbolism of memento mori, the Baroque glorification of the grotesque, the Surrealist obsession with the exquisite corpse and most recently, the depiction of the corpse that has emerged in contemporary art. ![]() What are the issues arising from how contemporary artworks have depicted the corpse?Īt the most primal level, the human corpse is visually shocking. ![]()
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