Taylor Worley is Associate Professor of Faith and Culture at Trinity International University, USA. His scholarly projects center on theological explorations in the visual arts and film. He has co-edited three books including, Contemporary Art and the Church (2017), Dreams, Doubt, and Dread (2016) and Theology, Aesthetics, and Culture (2012).

In their theologies and metaphysics, religions offer interpretations of problems that shape the human situation as religious thought understands it. In numbers that should not surprise us, but still do, some of the most interesting artists in the modern era have made a point of scrutinizing these problems, relying on religious imagery, narratives, and forms of experience to do so. Taylor Worley has selected four of them for careful scrutiny, leading readers through a perceptive and clearly written engagement with difficult art and variously tormented, angry, and haunted artists whose work demands a critical awareness of the relevance of religion for their creative provocations.- David Morgan, Duke University, USA.

• Chapter 1. Introduction: Theologies of Death in Contemporary Art Chapter 2. Love and Death: Francis Bacon’s Crucifixions Chapter 3. Life after Death: Joseph Beuys’ Re-enchantment of Art Chapter 4. Fearing Death: Robert Gober’s False Blasphemy Chapter 5. Laughing at Death: The Grim Comedy of Damien Hirst Chapter 6. Conclusion: Living Death

Taylor Worley is Associate Professor of Faith and Culture at Trinity International University, USA. His scholarly projects center on theological explorations in the visual arts and film. He has co-edited three books including, Contemporary Art and the Church (2017), Dreams, Doubt, and Dread (2016) and Theology, Aesthetics, and Culture (2012).

In their theologies and metaphysics, religions offer interpretations of problems that shape the human situation as religious thought understands it. In numbers that should not surprise us, but still do, some of the most interesting artists in the modern era have made a point of scrutinizing these problems, relying on religious imagery, narratives, and forms of experience to do so. Taylor Worley has selected four of them for careful scrutiny, leading readers through a perceptive and clearly written engagement with difficult art and variously tormented, angry, and haunted artists whose work demands a critical awareness of the relevance of religion for their creative provocations.- David Morgan, Duke University, USA.

• Chapter 1. Introduction: Theologies of Death in Contemporary Art Chapter 2. Love and Death: Francis Bacon’s Crucifixions Chapter 3. Life after Death: Joseph Beuys’ Re-enchantment of Art Chapter 4. Fearing Death: Robert Gober’s False Blasphemy Chapter 5. Laughing at Death: The Grim Comedy of Damien Hirst Chapter 6. Conclusion: Living Death

Taylor Worley is Associate Professor of Faith and Culture at Trinity International University, USA. His scholarly projects center on theological explorations in the visual arts and film. He has co-edited three books including, Contemporary Art and the Church (2017), Dreams, Doubt, and Dread (2016) and Theology, Aesthetics, and Culture (2012).

In their theologies and metaphysics, religions offer interpretations of problems that shape the human situation as religious thought understands it. In numbers that should not surprise us, but still do, some of the most interesting artists in the modern era have made a point of scrutinizing these problems, relying on religious imagery, narratives, and forms of experience to do so. Taylor Worley has selected four of them for careful scrutiny, leading readers through a perceptive and clearly written engagement with difficult art and variously tormented, angry, and haunted artists whose work demands a critical awareness of the relevance of religion for their creative provocations.- David Morgan, Duke University, USA.

• Chapter 1. Introduction: Theologies of Death in Contemporary Art Chapter 2. Love and Death: Francis Bacon’s Crucifixions Chapter 3. Life after Death: Joseph Beuys’ Re-enchantment of Art Chapter 4. Fearing Death: Robert Gober’s False Blasphemy Chapter 5. Laughing at Death: The Grim Comedy of Damien Hirst Chapter 6. Conclusion: Living Death