Blasphemy and contemporary art: a question of method

Abstract

Despite the fact that the 20th century was marked by a long process of secularisation in the Western world and that art increasingly distanced itself from religious issues, which had already been happening since the 18th century, many artists did not stop worrying about religious issues. Thanks to the freedoms they acquired, they tried to see Christianity in a different light: sometimes criticising it, sometimes defending a primitive Christianity, sometimes mocking it, etc. For this reason, several of these artists were accused of blasphemy, brought to justice, and many of them lost their cases. While others, just as critical as the former, went unnoticed. Now, in a secular society, what makes a work considered blasphemous? What is blasphemy in the visual arts? How should it be studied? We will try to answer these questions by analysing existing methods for studying blasphemy. Our aim will be to point out new alternatives for this study, based on expanding the types of documents that will be analysed and discussing these methods.