Why We Need The Grotesque
As a person who grew up watching Chucky, Saw, Critters, and every horror movie imaginable, my appreciation for the dark and gruesome has only grown. The feeling of anxiety when watching a horror movie along with the tension that settled in my bones, bewitched the need to feel more. When I decided to pursue Art History I mainly wanted to learn about art from the Medieval and Renaissance era due to its frequent use of intense and grotesque subject matter. This ultimately started my journey down a rabbit hole of grotesque beauty that gave me similar experiences to the movies I watched. I found art that depicted stories of myth with exaggerated violence and sculptural pieces with finely detailed lines that amplify tension within the human body. The longer my studies went the more time I had to spend with art that was abstract and modern, but it wasn’t emotional. While I appreciated learning how this art connected to history, it left me feeling empty. I wondered what happened to grotesque art.
During my time as an Art History student, I became entranced in the world of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Francisco Goya, and Jan van Eyck. Their use of shadows and depth, along with light and colors became a refuge of thought and calamity. Jan van Eyck’s The Crucifixion and Last Judgment Diptych opened up an intense biblical depiction showcasing the turmoil that was cast onto the Lord and what was going to be casted in return. The Crucifixion shows Jesus nailed to the cross with a spear piercing near his ribcage, blood flowing to his feet and down the wood. The Last Judgment doesn’t hold back in depicting human figures burning, drowning, and being down into hell. Upon their arrival these figures are met with grotesque beasts that impale, eat, and torture their bodies and souls. Each side holds immense color and figures of beauty, hinting at better days, and at salvation. The diptych holds a certain unease that borders disturbing in its imagery, which was normal for most biblical paintings during this time.
Jan van Eyck, The Crucifixion and The Last Judgment, ca. 1436-38, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
One work that is truly twisted and distorted is Francisco Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son. While the title says everything you need to know, one of the things that make it truly disturbing is how the eyes of Saturn are trained onto the viewer, while tearing the left arm from his son’s body that has already been beheaded. The body of Saturn is estranged, boney, and contorted to bring a sense of madness and maybe guilt. His son’s body is beautifully contoured with light shining on his back, growing darker down the legs, hinting at an ideal body. These opposite forms create an interesting image that tells a story of Goya’s familial troubles and the mental toll it took on him, as he descended into madness.
Francisco Goya, Saturn Devouring his Son, ca.1820-23, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
While I could go on forever about beautiful grotesque art of the Renaissance era, the idea of painting such forms was normal in a sense. Whether it was for biblical depictions, the idea of mutilated forms was a reoccurring theme and largely accepted due to its connection to myth. Ancient stories and religious tales have always been detailed and have changed over the centuries to be more appealing and less severe. With the shift to modern art, it birthed a new form of escapism through realism and abstraction. While I admire all these styles of art, the meaning of the work is given directly to the viewer due to the use of words and symbols, making me lose any emotional connection. While I appreciate the time and consideration that it took to make those artworks, they bore me. I feel nothing when I look at them, which is sad to say, but given the generation today, along with the crises the world is dealing with, there should be more emotion and conviction. I should feel something when I look at this art, I shouldn’t be bored and feel numb.
Maybe it’s my own bias that I’ve never truly “liked” modern art, but that doesn’t stop me from appreciating it and trying to understand why the art was made and by whom. Maybe I’m one of the only few who know about this little niche of beautifully grotesque art, but the reason for my admiration comes from what the works convey without any real symbols, just figuration and implication. They make my body tense up as I get goosebumps along my arms, and they make my eyes glisten with tears that won’t fall. Grotesque art makes me question myself as a person and lets me experience emotions I might not have had in a while. It’s not truly hidden from the art world, it’s simply overlooked, or too unsightly for people and institutions to talk about.
Grotesque art needs to be explored and discussed due to its exploration of the human psyche. It allows artists to explore themes that others might be afraid to talk about, while also starting communication about social and pollical issues. Grotesque art communicates an artist’s grief and pain to the viewer, if done correctly. I understand why some might not want to view these pieces due to what they might depict, but without these pieces of art we’ll never discover the truth about the world. How certain individuals view the bad, how it mentally affected them and those around them, and how the worst of mankind can cause a rift in everyday life. Grotesque art isn’t for everyone, but it has the power to shift realities and make people question the world around them, and even themselves.
I wonder why these works of art are kept away from today’s society when they express everything that needs to be expressed? Simple, it’s because we are running from the truth, being held back by conformities and lies. I want to see more of this type of art because it’s what I feel during this day and age. It makes me remember what is going on and why it’s important to pay attention to those around me, because the world itself is beautifully grotesque in its own way.