Skullture: Skulls in Contemporary Visual Culture

Simultaneously frightening and familiar, the image of the skull is the closest thing human civilization has ever seen to a universal aesthetic totem. Although the power of its iconic form originates from its association with death, it has come to represent so much more. Skullture takes a comprehensive approach while examining this phenomenon, taking into account both visual and conceptual considerations of the skull throughout history. The book explores the connections of Aztec religious iconography to Damien Hirst and the Ramones to Eighteenth Century funerary practices without ever losing sight of the fact that, while fashion changes, the visual staying power of the human skull carries on. Skullture presents different aesthetic uses of the skull as well as its various cultural resonances through myriad disciplines of art design and fashion. The list of more than 70 contributors includes Emilio Garcia, Lucy Hardie, Haroshi, Dionne Marshall, Alexandre Orion, Jim Skull, Ian Strange, Didier Ra, Vhils and Yohji Yamamoto.