Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Professor Rina Arya's Outputs (60)

Bacon's beasts: The pathos of the animal in the art of Francis Bacon(1909-1982). (2024)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2024). Bacon's beasts: The pathos of the animal in the art of Francis Bacon(1909-1982). The British art journal, 24(2), 57-60

Opening paragraph:
From his early years in rural Ireland to his last painting, Study of a bull (Pl 1), the condition of animality was a lifelong preoccupation of Francis Bacon (1909–1982). The 2022 exhibition at the Royal Academy, ‘Francis Bacon: Ma... Read More about Bacon's beasts: The pathos of the animal in the art of Francis Bacon(1909-1982)..

Locating religion in contemporary art (2023)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2023). Locating religion in contemporary art. Religion Compass, 17(4), Article e12457. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec3.12457

The place of religion in the context of contemporary art is fraught and complex. This article discusses three prominent ways in which religion is explored in contemporary art: in sociopolitics, in art that transgresses, and in the creation of spaces... Read More about Locating religion in contemporary art.

Cultural responses to face coverings: South Asian women's perspectives (2023)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2023). Cultural responses to face coverings: South Asian women's perspectives. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 38(3), 553--562. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2023.2246749

This research note conveys the views of three women with South Asian backgrounds on face coverings which became mandatory in certain places in the UK during Covid-19. All three women made connections between wearing face coverings and the practice of... Read More about Cultural responses to face coverings: South Asian women's perspectives.

Decolonizing art and design: Rethinking critical and contextual studies (2022)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2022). Decolonizing art and design: Rethinking critical and contextual studies. Art & the Public Sphere, 11, 55--60. https://doi.org/10.1386/aps_00068_1

The history of art, more accurately described as the history of western art, has been premised on a history of cultural imperialism that privileges certain tradi-tions and ideologies over others. The decline of the discipline within the academy in re... Read More about Decolonizing art and design: Rethinking critical and contextual studies.

Cultural appropriation: What it is and why it matters? (2021)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2021). Cultural appropriation: What it is and why it matters?. Sociology Compass, 15(10), Article e12923. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12923

Cultural appropriation is a highly contested subject within the media and society more broadly, often provoking moral outrage. It is receiving increasing interest within the academy and the last 20 years have seen the publication of a number of impor... Read More about Cultural appropriation: What it is and why it matters?.

The Chamber of Banality: Hell on Earth (2021)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2021). The Chamber of Banality: Hell on Earth. Performance Research, 26(1-2), 78--87. https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2021.1959237

In Sartre{\textquoteright}s play Huis Clos, hell is conceptualized as a psychological state of mind and interdependence rather than a physical place and is manifested through the conversational exchanges between the three characters, who seek to evad... Read More about The Chamber of Banality: Hell on Earth.

Debasing the Deity: The Material Culture of Hinduism (2020)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2020). Debasing the Deity: The Material Culture of Hinduism. Religion and the Arts, 24(5), 588-603. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685292-02405006

This article considers cases in the media of the cultural appropriation of Hindu symbols by Western fashion designers. Hinduism has a rich tradition of visual and material culture and designers are attracted to the aesthetic and symbolism of Hindu im... Read More about Debasing the Deity: The Material Culture of Hinduism.

Seeing-as: The Modality of Looking in Bacon's Portraiture (2020)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2020). Seeing-as: The Modality of Looking in Bacon's Portraiture. Visual culture in Britain, 21(3), 296--309. https://doi.org/10.1080/14714787.2020.1860340

This article examines Francis Bacon{\textquoteright}s treatment of portraits of sitters who were close to him–a closeness that is seen in the intimacy of their portrayals. Bacon cut through the surface to capture the energy of a person. This study ar... Read More about Seeing-as: The Modality of Looking in Bacon's Portraiture.

Virtual space (2019)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2019). Virtual space. In A. Massey (Ed.), A Companion to Contemporary Design since 1945 (137--156). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119112297.ch7

Virtual space is a critical aspect of design and presents many possibilities in the contemporary digital age in a range of arenas including entertainment, communication, and other industries, such as healthcare and the built environment. In this chap... Read More about Virtual space.

Homeless bound (2019)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2019). Homeless bound. In E. Roberts (Ed.), Asia Trinennial Manchester. Who Do You Think You Are? (35--38). Home Publications

Homeless Bound is a narrative about the phenomenological awareness of finding one's an outsider in the world and the shattering effect that has on one's identity and sense of self

Whose history is it anyway? The case of Exhibit B (2018)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2018). Whose history is it anyway? The case of Exhibit B. Journal for Cultural Research, 22, 27--38. https://doi.org/10.1080/14797585.2018.1426476

In 2014, Brett Bailey{\textquoteright}s Exhibit B site-specific installation created a media storm and protests throughout Europe. One such protest was in London, leading to the cancellation of his show at the Barbican. Consternation caused by art wo... Read More about Whose history is it anyway? The case of Exhibit B.

On Diaspora: In search of the holy (2018)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2018). On Diaspora: In search of the holy. Performance Research, 23, 279--282

This piece of creative writing tells the story of a young man{\textquoteright}s desire to express his religious devotion. As a second-generation South Asian migrant he opposes England, the country he grew up in, with India, his motherland, seeing the... Read More about On Diaspora: In search of the holy.

Frames of meaning: the space-frame in Bacon (2017)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2017). Frames of meaning: the space-frame in Bacon. Interiors, 8, 73--85. https://doi.org/10.1080/20419112.2017.1374025

A common motif in Francis Bacon{\textquoteright}s work is the use of a space-frame that is typically a three-dimensional structuring device mapped around a whole or partial figure. Each iteration differs with respect to the form it takes, materiality... Read More about Frames of meaning: the space-frame in Bacon.

Georges Bataille (1897-1962) (2017)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2017). Georges Bataille (1897-1962). In P. {Goodchild }, & H. {Phelps } (Eds.), Religion and European Philosophy (222--234). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315642253-20

Georges Bataille was a French cultural theorist and philosopher who wrote widely in a number of fields that included anthropology, sociology, art, economics, erotic literature and religion. Bataille{\textquoteright}s influences were many and disparat... Read More about Georges Bataille (1897-1962).

The Animal Surfaces: The Gaping Mouth in Francis Bacon's Work (2017)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2017). The Animal Surfaces: The Gaping Mouth in Francis Bacon's Work. Visual Anthropology, 30, 328--343. https://doi.org/10.1080/08949468.2017.1333363

Among the most popular motifs in Francis Bacon{\textquoteright}s painting is the gaping mouth. In some works the expression appears to be a scream, while elsewhere the mouth is open, replete with upper and lower teeth, but beyond that it is unclear w... Read More about The Animal Surfaces: The Gaping Mouth in Francis Bacon's Work.

Rethinking Black Art as a Category of Experience (2017)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2017). Rethinking Black Art as a Category of Experience. Visual culture in Britain, 18, 163--175. https://doi.org/10.1080/14714787.2017.1328986

Black art was a widely used category in the late 1970s and 1980s to describe the artwork of British people of South Asian, African or African-Caribbean descent. There are numerous problems associated with the collective labelling of such a group, not... Read More about Rethinking Black Art as a Category of Experience.

Inter-generational perspectives on caste: A Hindu Punjabi study (2017)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2017). Inter-generational perspectives on caste: A Hindu Punjabi study. Contemporary South Asia, 25, 285--300. https://doi.org/10.1080/09584935.2017.1315364

Caste in its manifold aspects has been a feature of studies about the Indian subcontinent. In the last few decades scholarship has begun to examine the impact that caste has had on culture in the diasporas. This article is a study of inter-generation... Read More about Inter-generational perspectives on caste: A Hindu Punjabi study.

Abjection interrogated: Uncovering the relation between abjection and disgust (2017)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2017). Abjection interrogated: Uncovering the relation between abjection and disgust. https://doi.org/10.5617/jea.4337

Julia Kristeva{\textquoteright}s theory of abjection, as propounded in Powers of Horror, emphasises the centrality of the repulsion caused by bodily experience in human life, and explains behaviours in and attitudes to our environment. The phenomenol... Read More about Abjection interrogated: Uncovering the relation between abjection and disgust.

The influence of Roy de Maistre on Francis Bacon (2017)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2017). The influence of Roy de Maistre on Francis Bacon. Religion and the Arts, 21, 607--622. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685292-02105001

Very little is said about the Australian artist Roy de Maistre in scholarship on Francis Bacon, apart from the fact that he provided guidance about painting processes and other technical issues. There are a number of reasons for this and this article... Read More about The influence of Roy de Maistre on Francis Bacon.

Spirituality and Contemporary Art (2016)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2016). Spirituality and Contemporary Art. In {. }. {Burch Brown} (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.209

The artworks under discussion detail the scope and breadth of art that can be described as spiritual by virtue of its revelatory, revitalizing and contemplative capacities. Rather than interrogating the relationship between art and religion, more per... Read More about Spirituality and Contemporary Art.

Reflections on the Spiritual in Rothko (2016)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2016). Reflections on the Spiritual in Rothko. Religion and the Arts, 20, 315--335. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685292-02003003

Much has been made of the metaphysical aspects of Mark Rothko's abstract art, especially his classic works of the 1950s and the Seagram murals. The claims for the spirituality of Rothko's work are by no means unique either to his art or to art in gen... Read More about Reflections on the Spiritual in Rothko.

Religion, Spirituality and Secularity (2016)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2016). Religion, Spirituality and Secularity. The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory, 24, 131--150. https://doi.org/10.1093/ywcct/mbw007

This chapter responds to a range of contemporary debates in the fields of religion, spirituality and secularism in books published in 2015. The chapter is divided into three sections: 1. The Visual and Material Culture of Religion; 2. Secularism and... Read More about Religion, Spirituality and Secularity.

Religion, Spirituality and Secularism (2015)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2015). Religion, Spirituality and Secularism. The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory, 23, 1--19. https://doi.org/10.1093/ywcct/mbu022

This chapter responds to a range of contemporary debates in the field of religion, spirituality and secularism in books published between 2013 and 2014. The chapter is divided into three sections: 1. Religion and Digital Culture; 2. Religion and the... Read More about Religion, Spirituality and Secularism.

Bacon and Bergson on Time and Motion (2015)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2015). Bacon and Bergson on Time and Motion. Visual culture in Britain, 16, 67--85. https://doi.org/10.1080/14714787.2015.990331

The bearing of Bergsonian thought on Bacon{\textquoteright}s paintings has become apparent as a result of Deleuze{\textquoteright}s study, Francis Bacon: Logique de la sensation (1981). But aside from Deleuze{\textquoteright}s application, there is a... Read More about Bacon and Bergson on Time and Motion.

Religion, Spirituality and Secularity (2014)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2014). Religion, Spirituality and Secularity. The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory, 22, 83--103. https://doi.org/10.1093/ywcct/mbu004

This chapter responds to a range of contemporary debates in the field of religion, spirituality and secularism in books published between 2011 and 2012, it is divided into five sections: 1. Introduction; 2. Secularism; 3. Religion, Media and Culture;... Read More about Religion, Spirituality and Secularity.

Abjection and Representation: An Exploration of Abjection in the Visual Arts, Film and Literature (2014)
Book
Arya, R. (2014). Abjection and Representation: An Exploration of Abjection in the Visual Arts, Film and Literature. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230389342

Abjection and Representation is a theoretical investigation of the concept of abjection as expounded by Julia Kristeva in Powers of Horror (1982) and its application in various fields including the visual arts, film and literature. It examines the co... Read More about Abjection and Representation: An Exploration of Abjection in the Visual Arts, Film and Literature.

Taking apart the body: Abjection and body art (2014)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2014). Taking apart the body: Abjection and body art. Performance Research, 19, 5--14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2014.908079

When thinking about abjection in relation to the body it is illuminating to think about the significance of the boundary between two different states. In abjection this boundary becomes problematized through transgression. This article examines the v... Read More about Taking apart the body: Abjection and body art.

Bill Viola and the Sublime (2013)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2013). Bill Viola and the Sublime. In N. Llewellyn, & C. Riding (Eds.), The Art of the Sublime. Tate

The new media art of the 1970s and 1980s offered new possibilities for expressing the sublime. Rina Arya discusses selected works by the video artist Bill Viola in light of romantic notions of the sublime.

Embodiment as Sacrament: Francis Baconʹs Postwar Horror (2013)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2013). Embodiment as Sacrament: Francis Baconʹs Postwar Horror. In J. Romaine, & L. Stratford (Eds.), ReVisioning (311--322). CASCADE

The power of Francis Bacon{\textquoteright}s (1909–1992) art lies, in part, in the contradictory range of responses that it evokes. Some viewers experience his paintings as energetic and uplifting; others react to the despondent and annihilating qual... Read More about Embodiment as Sacrament: Francis Baconʹs Postwar Horror.

Contemplations of the Spiritual in Contemporary Art (2013)
Book
Arya, R. (Ed.). (2013). Contemplations of the Spiritual in Contemporary Art. Peter Lang Ltd. https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0353-0444-2

This essay collection exploring the relationship between spirituality and art is the result of a conference that took place in December 2010 at Liverpool Cathedral. During this two-day event, artists, clergy and academics from different disciplines –... Read More about Contemplations of the Spiritual in Contemporary Art.

Knowledge and Value in Art (2012)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2012). Knowledge and Value in Art. In {. }. Elkins, & M. Naef (Eds.), What do Artists Know? (175--177). Penn State University Press

The graphic power of Käthe Kollwitz (2012)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2012). The graphic power of Käthe Kollwitz. In P. {Fryer } (Ed.), Women in the Arts in the Belle Epoque (210--224). McFarland and Company, Inc

Francis Bacon: Critical and Theoretical Perspectives (2012)
Book
Arya, R. (Ed.). (2012). Francis Bacon: Critical and Theoretical Perspectives. Peter Lang Ltd. https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0353-0389-6

This collection of essays on Francis Bacon (1909-1992) pays tribute to the legacy, influence and power of his art. The volume widens the relevance of Bacon in the twenty-first century and looks at new ways of thinking about or reframing him. The cont... Read More about Francis Bacon: Critical and Theoretical Perspectives.

Exploring Liminality from an Anthropological Perspective (2012)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2012). Exploring Liminality from an Anthropological Perspective. In D. Harrison (Ed.), Digital Media and Technologies for Virtual Artistic Spaces (159--165). IGI Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-2961-5.ch012

The transition from the real to the digital requires a shift of consciousness that can be theorised with recourse to the concept of liminality, which has multidisciplinary currency in psychology and other disciplines in the social sciences, cultural,... Read More about Exploring Liminality from an Anthropological Perspective.

The Neglected Place of Religion in Contemporary Western Art (2012)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2012). The Neglected Place of Religion in Contemporary Western Art. Fieldwork in Religion, 6, 27--46. https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v6i1.27

In this article I am going to examine some of the artwork of the American video artist Bill Viola to demonstrate the experiences of the religious to which it can give rise. Viola{\textquoteright}s work is a meditation on the central questions and iss... Read More about The Neglected Place of Religion in Contemporary Western Art.

Constructions of homosexuality in the art of Francis Bacon (2012)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2012). Constructions of homosexuality in the art of Francis Bacon. Journal for Cultural Research, 16, 43--61. https://doi.org/10.1080/14797585.2011.633836

In this article, I contextualise Bacon's representations of homosexuality -- that is, same-sex relations between men. The male nude made its appearance in Bacon's work in the early 1950s, a time when the nude was not a popular subject in painting and... Read More about Constructions of homosexuality in the art of Francis Bacon.

Transitional Spaces: The Phenomenology of the Awayday (2011)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2011). Transitional Spaces: The Phenomenology of the Awayday. Tamara : journal of critical postmodern organization science, 9, 23--33

In this paper I will investigate the phenomenon of the awayday and its potential as a transitional space as well as how it fits into management discourse. Transition is central to the awayday, often on a literal level (of being away from the office,... Read More about Transitional Spaces: The Phenomenology of the Awayday.

Assaying the Pope: Francis Bacon's Interrogation of Religion (2011)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2011). Assaying the Pope: Francis Bacon's Interrogation of Religion. Implicit Religion, 14, 343--349

The artist Francis Bacon vehemently denied that he was religious and yet in his art he employed numerous examples of Christian symbols, such as the Crucifixion and the Pope. The use of religious symbols by artists who profess either atheism or a mere... Read More about Assaying the Pope: Francis Bacon's Interrogation of Religion.

Contemplations of the Spiritual in Visual Art (2011)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2011). Contemplations of the Spiritual in Visual Art. Journal for the study of spirituality, 1, 76--93. https://doi.org/10.1558/jss.v1i1.76

Many examples of art works are described as spiritual but without fleshing out what this means. This has led to wide applicability of the term but without a sharpening of the concept. I address this by opening up a dialogue between spirituality and t... Read More about Contemplations of the Spiritual in Visual Art.

Art in Sacred Places (2010)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2010). Art in Sacred Places. In L. Holland, & J. Poulton (Eds.), Site, Material, Object (6--9)

The Religious Significance of Violence in Football (2010)
Book Chapter
Arya, R. (2010). The Religious Significance of Violence in Football. In {. S. }. Christianson, & C. Partridge (Eds.), Holy Terror (122--134). Routledge

The above emotive response was recalled by the late music disc jockey John Peel with reference to the match between Liverpool and AS Roma in the 1984 European Champions Cup Final in Paris. The goal scored by Allen Kennedy was the pivotal moment in th... Read More about The Religious Significance of Violence in Football.

The Religious Dimensions of Compulsive Buying (2009)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2009). The Religious Dimensions of Compulsive Buying. Implicit Religion, 12, 165--185. https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.v12i2.165

This paper examines the implicit religiosity of compulsive buying. Much of the extant literature on the subject focuses on biological and/or psychological factors. I argue that the cycle of behaviour in compulsive buying, which oscillates between eup... Read More about The Religious Dimensions of Compulsive Buying.

Remaking the body: The cultural dimensions of Francis Bacon (2009)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2009). Remaking the body: The cultural dimensions of Francis Bacon. Journal for Cultural Research, 13, 143--158. https://doi.org/10.1080/14797580902829752

In 2008 the Tate Gallery hosted a retrospective of Francis Bacon to commemorate his centenary. This occasion was one of the motivations for presenting this reflection on Bacon and his legacy 16 years after his death. The exhibition demonstrated Bacon... Read More about Remaking the body: The cultural dimensions of Francis Bacon.

Painting the Pope: An analysis of Francis Bacon's study after Velázquez's Portrait of Innocent X (2009)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2009). Painting the Pope: An analysis of Francis Bacon's study after Velázquez's Portrait of Innocent X. Literature and Theology, 23, 33--50. https://doi.org/10.1093/litthe/frn039

In many discussions of his work Bacon is disparaging about religion, and more specifically, Christianity. And yet, in spite of his unequivocal stance, throughout his oeuvre he was relentlessly drawn towards the symbols of the Christian tradition, esp... Read More about Painting the Pope: An analysis of Francis Bacon's study after Velázquez's Portrait of Innocent X.

A-theology and the recovery of the sacred in Bataille and Bacon (2008)
Journal Article
Arya, R. (2008). A-theology and the recovery of the sacred in Bataille and Bacon

In this paper I want to examine the relationship between “a-theology” and the sacred in the select works by Georges Bataille (1897-1962) and the artist Francis Bacon (1909-1992). Throughout their work Bataille and Bacon express the influence of relig... Read More about A-theology and the recovery of the sacred in Bataille and Bacon.