DEATH SHRINE 1975

Editor: We’re looking at Kenneth Price’s “DEATH SHRINE,” a drawing made with acrylic paint from 1975. It’s quite a vibrant, almost playful take on what I’d expect from something titled "Death Shrine." What strikes you about this work? Curator: The term “shrine” is interesting here. It's not Gothic gloom we might expect, is it? Rather, Price has constructed an altar teeming with signifiers of death rendered in a Pop Art idiom. I'm particularly drawn to the dualistic symbolism. Editor: Dualistic? In what way? Curator: Well, observe the playful skulls contrasted against the austere skeleton figure. The pink hue of the tiered structure juxtaposes the morbid subject matter. It’s as though Price is exploring the liminal space between reverence and irony. Do you sense a hint of cultural commentary there? Editor: Perhaps about the commercialization of death or maybe its aestheticization? It definitely moves away from traditional mourning. Curator: Precisely! The use of geometric shapes and bright colors flattens the image, pulling it away from realism and pushing it towards a graphic representation. Almost like a cartoon… Consider the cultural context of the 1970s – a time of immense social and political upheaval. How might this piece reflect or comment on those anxieties? Editor: I see how this could be a response, a way to process and maybe even satirize those anxieties through familiar, almost palatable, visual symbols. Curator: The “DEATH SHRINE,” then, becomes not just a depiction of death, but a reflection of our culture's complex and often contradictory relationship with it. It asks us to consider the evolving language of mortality and how it permeates our visual culture. Editor: I hadn't considered how the bright colors could be used to soften such a harsh subject! It has become so clear how cultural memory works through symbols, in art as in life.