William Blake "The Whore of Babylon" 1809
I've been saying for a while now that 2013 will be The Year of the Witch, and am actually in the process of exploring this more extensively through a few other projects which I'll be announcing here at some point soon. In the meantime, it gives me no small amount of pleasure when I see further evidence of this, as in the "Witches and Wicked Bodies" exhibition that will be opening next year at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. The show will be a comprehensive collection of witch imagery in fine art through the ages, and it sounds just delicious:
Witches and Wicked Bodies
- 27th July − 3rd November 2013
- Modern Two (Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art) | £7 (£5)
Delve into the world of Witches and Wicked Bodies in this major new exhibition coming in summer 2013.
Discover how witches and witchcraft have been depicted by artists over the past 500 years, including works by Albrecht Dürer, Francisco de Goya and William Blake, plus pieces by 20th century artists such as Paula Rego and Kiki Smith.
Through 16th and 17th century prints and drawings, learn how the advent of the printing press allowed artists and writers to share ideas, myths and fears about witches from country to country.
Including major works on load from the British Museum, the National Gallery (London), Tate, the Victoria & Albert Museum, as well as works from the Galleries’ own collections, Witches and Wicked Bodies will be an investigation of extremes, exploring the highly exaggerated ways in which witches have been represented, from hideous hags to beautiful seductresses.
I have plans to travel to the UK next year, so I hope the timing will somehow work out so I can see this in person.
Thank you, Jordan Rockford, for making sure I knew about this!
Hi Amy,
Interesting stuff. Hope I can see the exhibition too!
Your '2013 Year of the Witch' idea resonates with me, and I thought you'd like to see this piece I wrote about 2013 (inc. the 'witching hour'). I've dubbed it 'year of the spider' but of course there are many convergent strands in this wyrd web:
http://www.crossroads.wild.net.au/current13.htm
Thanks!
Posted by: Orryelle | December 17, 2012 at 08:32 PM
Thanks for sharing, Oryelle. Looks like we are indeed on the same page (though my name is actually Pam.) Looking forward to 2013!
Posted by: Pam | December 26, 2012 at 10:15 AM