Forms of enchantment : writings on art & artists / Marina Warner. [print]

Includes bibliographical references (pages 262-274) and index.

"Art writing at its most useful should share the dynamism, fluidity, and passions of the objects of its enquiry, argues author Marina Warner in this new anthology. Here, some of Warner's most compelling writing captures the visual experience of the work of a diverse group of artists--with a notable focus on the inner lives of women--through an exploration of the range of stories and symbols to which they allude in their work. Warner vividly describes this imagery, covering the connection with animals in the work of Louise Bourgeois, the Catholicism of Damien Hirst, performance as a medium of memory in the installations of Joan Jonas, and more. Rather than drawing on connoisseurship, Warner's approach grows principally out of anthropology and mythology. Accompanied by illustrations of the works being described, Marina Warner's writing unites the imagination of artist, writer, and reader, creating a reading experience that parallels the intrinsic pleasure of looking at art. This book will appeal to any student of art history, those interested in philosophy, feminism, and more generally in the humanities"-- Publisher's description.

Playing in the dark -- Paula Rego: giving fear a face -- Henry Fuseli: in the passionate playground -- Janine Antoni: hide & seek -- Richard Wentworth: things that talk -- Kiki Smith: self-portrait as a beast in Eden -- Bodies of sense -- Hans Baldung Grien: the fatal bite -- Louise Bourgeois: cut & stitch -- Zarina Bhimji: sheddings -- Helen Chadwick: the wound of difference -- Tacita Dean: Footage -- Spectral technologies -- Joan Jonas: future ghosts -- Sigmar Polke: stone alchemy -- AL and AL: visions of the honeycomb -- Jumana Emil Abboud: dreaming the territory -- Christian Thompson: magical aesthetics -- Iconoclashes -- Hieronymus Bosch: trumpery, or the followers of the Haywain -- Damien Hirst: to hell with death -- Felicity Powell: marks of shame, signs of grace -- Frans Masereel: naked in the city -- Cristina Iglesias: where three waters meet -- Julie Mehretu: the third space.

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