Author(s): Michael Petry (Royal Academy Schools)

Art History

Structured according to the classical categories of the still-life tradition Flora, Food, House and Home, Fauna, and Death, each chapter explores how the timeless symbolic resonance of thememento mori a reminder of death, change, and the passing of time has been rediscovered for a new millennium. Among the artists represented are John Currin, Saara Ekstrom, Elmgreen & Dragset, Renata Hegyi, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Gary Hume, Jeff Koons, McDermott & McGough, Beatriz Milhazes, Gabriel Orozco, Marc Quinn, Sam Taylor-Wood, and Cy Twombly. "