Ultimate ugly: Jake and Dinos Chapman’s Disasters of War and the theology of ugliness

Ugliness is an elusive concept and has been little discussed in theological aesthetics. This article argues that contemporary culture often regards ugliness as being more authentic than beauty and prizes ugliness in contemporary art. Through a discussion of works by the contemporary British artists...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Bown, Nicola (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Publié: [2016]
Dans: Theology
Année: 2016, Volume: 119, Numéro: 6, Pages: 426-434
RelBib Classification:CD Christianisme et culture
KAH Époque moderne
KAJ Époque contemporaine
VA Philosophie
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Maison d'édition)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Résumé:Ugliness is an elusive concept and has been little discussed in theological aesthetics. This article argues that contemporary culture often regards ugliness as being more authentic than beauty and prizes ugliness in contemporary art. Through a discussion of works by the contemporary British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman that rework Goya’s Disasters of War, this article suggests that ugliness is connected to nihilism, and that it should be seen as not the opposite of, but the negation of beauty. The works by the Chapman brothers embody the aesthetic and affective qualities of ugliness, and thus a consideration of these works can help to formulate a theology of ugliness.
ISSN:2044-2696
Contient:Enthalten in: Theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0040571X16659241