Events

Join us in Room 100 for a lecture and Q&A session with Eugene and Jan Peterson Associate Professor of Theology and the Arts Jonathan Anderson. Jonathan will discuss "The (In)visibility of Theology in Contemporary Art."

About the Lecture

The histories of modern and contemporary art have been written largely without serious consideration of religion. But, Jonathan Anderson argues, this does not mean religion has been absent or irrelevant—indeed, religious traditions have deeply shaped many major artists, artworks, and the sociocultural contexts in which they circulate. Recently, critical conversations have been shifting among both artists and scholars, generating a "new visibility" of religion in contemporary art. In this lecture, Jonathan will briefly survey these developments, showing how they are being understood within four different "interpretive horizons"—anthropological, political, spiritual, and theological. While highlighting several examples, Jonathan will concentrate on a single case study of how these interpretive horizons work, paying particular attention to contemporary art criticism within a theological horizon.

About the Speaker

Jonathan Anderson’s scholarship explores the interrelations of art history, theology, and religious studies, with a particular focus on modern and contemporary art. He is the coauthor (with William Dyrness) of the book Modern Art and the Life of a Culture: The Religious Impulses of Modernism (IVP Academic, 2016) and the author of many articles and book chapters, including “The (In)visibility of Theology in Contemporary Art Criticism” (Eerdmans, 2014) and “Modern Art” in The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2021).

Prior to his appointment at Regent College, Anderson completed a PhD at King’s College London (London, England) and then taught for three years at Duke Divinity School (Durham, NC) as the Postdoctoral Associate of Theology and the Visual Arts. Prior to this, he was trained as an artist and art critic, earning an MFA from California State University Long Beach and teaching for eleven years as an Associate Professor of Art at Biola University (La Mirada, CA). For Dr. Anderson’s publications and artistic work, please visit jonathan-anderson.com.

About Regent Forum

Regent Forum offers opportunities to connect with Regent faculty as they share research on theological topics that matter to them. Designed to foster enriching dialogue among faculty, students, and the wider community, each forum features a 40-minute paper presentation followed by a 20-minute Q&A session. Regent Forum is free, open to the public, and available exclusively onsite. Visit rgnt.net/forum to view the Winter 2024 schedule.