Reports of the death of religious art have been greatly exaggerated

LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS

By S. Brent Plate

Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Black and Red on Red, 1962. Oil on paper laid on canvas. 29⅝ x 21⅝ in (75.3 x 54.9 cm). Private Collection © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko ARS, NY and DACS, London

When written in the same sentence, the terms “religion” and “art” tend to turn the contemporary secularized gaze back in time to Renaissance imagery. But while modern and contemporary artists have continued to embrace, or rail against, their spiritual inklings or their own religious pasts and presents, and while curators have responded by tapping into these sources, those writing about the arts — historians, critics, and journalists — have kept their secular gaze narrowly focused. Critics and journalists rarely diverge from the secular gaze when it comes to using art and spirit in the same sentence. And, perhaps ultimately, critics will start paying more attention. [More]

Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664), Christ on the Cross, with the Virgin and Saints Mary Magdalene and John the Evangelist. Oil on canvas. 83½ x 64¼ in (212 x 163 cm). Private Collection

CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS:
Andres Serrano

David Wojnarowicz

John Latham

Thomas Kinkade

Wassily Kandinsky

Kazimir Malevich

Piet Mondrian

Mark Rothko

Barnett Newman

Agnes Martin

Yves Klein

Bill Viola

Gary Hill

Paweł Wojtasik 

Shirin Neshat 

Maya Deren

Stan Brakhage

Nina Danino

Nathaniel Dorsky 

Andy Goldsworthy

James Turrell

Howard Finster

James Hampton

Guy Laramée

Brian Dettmer

Meg Hitchcock

Shahzia Sikander

Richard Francis 

Chris Ofili

Kerry James Marshall 

Jack Levine

George Segal

Audrey Flack

Larry Rivers

R. B. Kitaj

Leonard Baskin

Allan Kaprow

Ben Shahn

Nancy Spero,