You are warmly invited to this guest talk by renowned conceptual artist and writer on art Michael Corris, titled “Philosophy’s Illustrious Companions: Why Artists Engage with Philosophy.”
The talk will take place on Tuesday 17 October, 3-5pm (UK time) at Grimond Seminar Room 8 (GS8). You can also join online via this link on Teams (Meeting ID: 396 325 716 255 ; Passcode: DVGARV). This is a Centre for Heritage event (University of Kent).
Philosopher Thomas Wartenberg’s book Thoughtful Images: Illustrating Philosophy Through Art (2023) purports to explain how Western artists, from Classical Greece to contemporary graphic novels, have illustrated philosophical concepts, arguments and theories. While Wartenberg offers a typology of modes of representation of philosophy by artists, his thesis is deficient on a number of counts. This talk will explore the following questions in order to address some key issues that remain underdeveloped or unvoiced in Wartenberg’s account:
1. Why do modern and contemporary artists have an interest in philosophy?
2. To what extent does Wartenberg misrepresent the engagement with philosophy of contemporary non-white artists?
3. What forms of expression of contemporary art other than painting and sculpture provide a platform for the engagement of art and philosophy?
Michael Corris 