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Humanity as a whole has pondered the notion of life and death for as long as one can remember, but modern society must ask when does life begin, and when does it end. Does religion answer the question of life, or does the government? Is Jung right, and does the collective unconsciousness determine existence? Was Freud on to something when he believed that consciousness was the key to understanding life?
The artists in “A Foot In The Grave” have forgone the question of when life begins and have taken on their social duty to examine when life ends, and what it means to be alive. Through multiple mediums and artistic styles, they examine their own lives to see what it is to be alive, and what it means to society in today’s world. With numerous and abundant medical treatments and medications, life expectancy is extended well past the customary human limitations. The 20th century brought forth the reinvention of life and death. Was Dr. Kevorkian right for allowing terminally ill patients to choose the moment of their death, instead of living a painful existence, and prolonging death? Do the French have it right, is “le petite mort” the bridge between a spiritual and physical death?
Hernán Cortés arrived in the “New World” in the early 16th century and observed how the Aztec’s chose humans to sacrifice in order to appease their gods. Modern scholars still do not know who was earned this honorable right. They had a ballgame, which was called tlachtli, and it has been noted that the winners or the losers’ blood was spilled to the gods. The mother of all the gods Coatlicue, gave life to the sun, the moon, stars, and devoured the corpses that were placed into the ground, as the earth both consumes and regenerates life.
The Day of the Dead is a Latin American holiday that originated from an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. Dia de los Muertos is a celebration that focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. Diego Rivera used these ideas in many of his paintings and murals.
During the famous radio interview in 1964, Frank Stella declared “Painting Is Dead,” which ultimately ended the tradition of painting being the epitome of what art was to the masses. The New York school had to develop new perceptions of painting to give new life to this so-called “obsolete” art form. Through new forms, techniques and mediums, a new type of artist was formed, one who conceptualized and produced works from ideas, not from traditional means of creation.
A new breed of artistic thinker has emerged in the past few years, and I have chosen works by artists from around the globe in order to examine how fragile the balance of life and death actually is. With terrorism, horrific natural disasters and new diseases taking lives prematurely, we begin to ponder what it actually means to be alive. Death has been depicted through the entire history of art, and will do so until the last human expires.
Robert Berry
Curator
Mike Worrall "Incident On Platform 6" |
