Bill Viola
Viola believes that art should be experienced. It is not solely the preserve of the intellect. His Nantes Triptych, a video installation showing a woman giving birth, a man suspended in water and a very old woman on her death bed, arouses strong emotions. The feelings of disgust aroused by the process of giving birth and by that of dying, illustrate just how far we try to protect ourselves from the physical reality of life.
Viola believes that art should be experienced. It is not solely the preserve of the intellect. His Nantes Triptych, a video installation showing a woman giving birth, a man suspended in water and a very old woman on her death bed, arouses strong emotions. The feelings of disgust aroused by the process of giving birth and by that of dying, illustrate just how far we try to protect ourselves from the physical reality of life.
Stuart Brisley
A 'curator of shit', Brisley has been an anti-hygiene artist for 30 years. Like Nitsch, he believes that denying the visceral reality of what is around us, including vomit, blood and shit, demeans the wholeness of the human experience.
A 'curator of shit', Brisley has been an anti-hygiene artist for 30 years. Like Nitsch, he believes that denying the visceral reality of what is around us, including vomit, blood and shit, demeans the wholeness of the human experience.
Sarah Lucas
One of the best-known young British artists, Lucas challenges sexual stereotypes in her work. Using sculpture, photography and installations, Lucas denies the idea that sex is disgusting. Her art attempts to reflect life as it is lived – messy, funny, pathetic and full of contradictions.
One of the best-known young British artists, Lucas challenges sexual stereotypes in her work. Using sculpture, photography and installations, Lucas denies the idea that sex is disgusting. Her art attempts to reflect life as it is lived – messy, funny, pathetic and full of contradictions.
Melanie Manchot
A German artist now living and working in London, Manchot's work looks at different aspects of disgust. Her collection of kisses illustrates how we are repelled by the thought of intimacy with a stranger. Her photographs of her ageing, naked mother force us to confront our fears about growing old, as well as our perceptions of what is, and can be, beautiful.
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A German artist now living and working in London, Manchot's work looks at different aspects of disgust. Her collection of kisses illustrates how we are repelled by the thought of intimacy with a stranger. Her photographs of her ageing, naked mother force us to confront our fears about growing old, as well as our perceptions of what is, and can be, beautiful.
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Robert Maplethorpe
Mapplethorpe, who came from a middle-class, Roman Catholic, Long Island background, lived and worked in New York. His photographs are unsettling because many of them represent blatant homosexual desire and sado-masochism but are shot in such a way that composition, lighting and immaculate technique sublimate the subject. For instance, Jim and Tom, Sausalito (1977) can be seen as a strikingly lit figure composition until one notices that one man is urinating into the mouth of the other.
A travelling retrospective exhibition of Mapplethorpe's work in the late 1980s/early '90s caused furious controversy, police intervention and prosecution, particularly because of the presence of one print. Rosie (1976) showed a three-year-old girl whose pulled-up skirt revealed her vulva. The possible innocence of the shot was complicated by the loaded sexuality of other images in the show.
Mapplethorpe, who came from a middle-class, Roman Catholic, Long Island background, lived and worked in New York. His photographs are unsettling because many of them represent blatant homosexual desire and sado-masochism but are shot in such a way that composition, lighting and immaculate technique sublimate the subject. For instance, Jim and Tom, Sausalito (1977) can be seen as a strikingly lit figure composition until one notices that one man is urinating into the mouth of the other.
A travelling retrospective exhibition of Mapplethorpe's work in the late 1980s/early '90s caused furious controversy, police intervention and prosecution, particularly because of the presence of one print. Rosie (1976) showed a three-year-old girl whose pulled-up skirt revealed her vulva. The possible innocence of the shot was complicated by the loaded sexuality of other images in the show.