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The art of death in an age of denial

Artists have always painted skulls and confronted mortality but now such work is more important than ever.

15 Nov 2016 12:00

Richard Watts

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Performing Arts

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As a culture, we are deeply uncomfortable with talking about death. Our urban lives protect us from animal cycles of life. The dying are shunted off to hospitals or nursing homes. Public rituals such as wearing black or keening have been replaced by brief funerals. Tears are private.

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Richard Watts

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts