Apocalypse

Apocalyptic fears are everywhere in the public conversation today, but our sense of impending threat is not new. Modern storm clouds include war, pandemics, climate threat, and Al. Further back in time, in the Christian worldview of the 1500s, prophesies about Judgement Day sparked worry and dread.

Thoughts of apocalypse have fascinated countless artists through the ages. Paradoxically enough, the idea of the end of the world has always fired the creative imagination. Here, this theme is explored from the viewpoint of the visual arts with forays into wider visual culture. Current concerns and moods are placed in a historical context spanning the Renaissance to today.

The contributors to this book are researchers, authors, and image creators. They examine the shape of apocalyptic thought in the Reformation, catastrophe mediation at the turn of the twentieth century, and the central role of naked bodies in Last Judgement pictures. They also write about Romanticism’s dramatic images, Symbolism’s fateful moods, dystopias, and science fiction. Reference is made to paintings, prints, sculpture, and video art but also to literature, film, and video games. And all is not dark: apocalypse can also be seen as an opportunity, a bridge to a new state of being.

The book accompanies the exhibition Apocalypse – From Last Judgement to Climate Threat at the Gothenburg Museum of Art.

Utkommer i februari.