Tag Archives: Death art

“Kuzosu: the Death of a Noble Lady and the Decay of Her Body”

Death and decay can have a positive side

The kusozu are traditional Japanese watercolor paintings that gained popularity between the 13th and 19th centuries. The paintings depict graphic images of death and decay. Kusozu were created in the Buddhist tradition to meditate on the temporary nature of the … Continue reading

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No Longer the Last Nail in the Coffin: A Design Duo Wants to Zip You Up Instead

Visser & Meijwaard make fun, funky coffins for bold personalities

Many people dread the idea of being locked inside a coffin and buried. But thanks to a Dutch design team’s innovative new zip-up coffins, that idea may be a lot less terrifying now. Design duo Steven Visser and Vera Meijwaard wanted … Continue reading

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Wolfgang Natlacen Brings Fun Whimsy to Funerals with Urns That Double as Toys

The artist's egg-shaped urns transform the way we mourn loved ones

Walk into most funeral parlors in the United States, and you’ll see rows of somber, muted urns resting on the display shelves. For centuries, Western culture has thought of funerals and funeral accessories as dignified and utterly sanitized. Any attempts at … Continue reading

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Mortal Darkness

Cancer and mortality emanate as darkness in Scottish artist Ken Currie's "Three Oncologists"

Three faces stare back at you, momentarily caught in the light as they turn into a looming darkness behind a curtain. Three men, clothed in gowns that quickly read medical. The illuminated gowns are covers that protect and contextualize these men as doctors. The … Continue reading

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Kazimir Malevich: Reflections on Tragic Loss

"Simultaneous Death in an Airplane and at the Railway" by Kazimir Malevich offers an empathetic vision regarding tragedy

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich (1879-1935) was a geometric “Suprematist” abstract artist whose work helped spearhead the avant-garde movement in Russia and Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. His illustration “Death of the Man on the Airplane and on the Train … Continue reading

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“Death in the Sick Room” by Edvard Munch

The Munch painting explores tuberculosis and death through the survivors they affect

In the 1895 painting Death in the Sick Room, Norwegian symbolist Edvard Munch takes a unique look at his sister Johanne Sophie and her death by tuberculosis. Rather than fix his gaze on his sister, Munch directs his attention to … Continue reading

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