In the twentieth century, artists allowed themselves to be inspired and persuaded by the teachings of modernism and began to approach the human body in a much more creative way. The physical temple of our existence never looked as interesting as it did when it was portrayed with avant-garde sentiment.
This approach to the depiction and understanding of the body is the subject of a new exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) in Edinburgh, which is displaying selected works from its own collection alongside that selected from the D.Daskalopoulos Collection.
“It allows us to show the very best of international contemporary art to the Scottish public whilst continuing our innovative use of the collection to produce a show that will be daring, surprising and of international significance,” commented Dr Simon Groom, director of the SNGMA.
Organised by the establishment’s chief curator Keith Hartley, From Death To Death and Other Small Tales brings together a total of 120 works that explore the concept of the body as being the “source of creativity”, as well as the “vessel of existential, social and ideological struggle”.
Ideas about the human form, whether purely physical or spiritual – the latter tied into the notion of a soul – are vividly surveyed by a plethora of artists from all movements, past and present.
This includes Marina Abramovic, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Andre Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Tracey Emin, Max Ernst, Robert Gober, David Hammons, Sarah Lucas, Rene Magritte, Ernesto Neto, Pablo Picasso, Dieter Roth, Kiki Smith, Rachel Whiteread, Sue Williams and Francesca Woodman.
Works from both collections have either been paired together or assembled into groupings, which shows how prevalent explorations into the meaning of the body have been throughout the history of modern and contemporary art.
From Death To Death and Other Small Tales: Masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the D.Daskalopoulos Collection runs until September 8th 2013.
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