Avantgarde Art and Radical Material Theology

"Petra Carlsson Redell is unique among radical theologians. Instead of talking about creativity and imagination, she does theology that is actually creative and imaginative. Moreover, her theological discourse addresses the visual arts, also extremely rare among radical theologians. But Carlsson Redell goes even further, her work not only addresses the visual arts, but is formed by and through her engagement Russian Constructivismone of the more radical aesthetic and political practices of the early twentieth-century avantgardeand the paintings and writings of Liubov Popova (18891924) in particular. Carlsson Redell does theology, performs and improvises a theology that resembles Popovas paintings and writings, shapes of powerful color that form a loosely yet taught assemblage composed of elementsan actual, material thing that works in the worldthat contributes to its complexity and mystery, and in the process, perhaps even changes it." Daniel A. Siedell, Ph.D. art historian, educator, and curator, New York City "Petra Carlsson Redell's new book is an illustration of what can happen when new voices and fresh perspectives are introduced into established traditions of thought. By inserting Liubov Popova, one of the most important women artists of the Russian avant-garde, into the tradition of radical theology, Carlsson Redell reframes theological ideas in ways which allow her to engage directly with current political and ecological issues. Popova helps the author rethink the spiritual dimension of matter and to address the environmental crisis, a problem which, as far as it hinges on human existence, is ultimately theological in nature. The book is both an original contribution to the field of theology through the arts and to a radical theology, which confronts boldly problems of modernity." Clemena Antonova, author of Visual Thought in Russian Religious Philosophy (Routledge, 2020), and Research Director of the Eurasia in Global Dialogue Programme, Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna

Petra Carlsson Redell is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Stockholm School of Theology, Sweden. She has published multiple times on religion, philosophy and art in journals such as Studia Theologica and The Oxford Journal of Literature & Theology, and in books including Mysticism as Revolt (2014) and Foucault, Art, and Radical Theology (2018).

Foreword by Jeffrey W. Robbins Introduction: Radical material theology and the Earth 1. The backdrop: Theology of art from Tillich to Popova 2. Released from Eden 3. The things you own 4. The Celestial machine 5. Last thing(ie)s: Eschatology out of joint Conclusion: Second theology: a manifesto