Neo-Baroque aesthetics: History and theory

This unit focuses on Neo-Baroque aesthetics in contemporary culture and their historical antecedents. The Baroque themes of spectacle, trompe l'oeil excess, and incorporeal experience will be examined with reference to the visual arts from Caravaggio to Borromini. The return of these preoccupations in contemporary art and media will also be explored. Key historical and theoretical topics, such as the status of illusionism and narrative in art, the representation of spirituality, sexuality and death, and the recent 'remediation' of earlier visual forms and ideas will be emphasised.