Memento Mori: Remember Your Mortality

Legend by David Gough

Death is a universal experience that has enticed artists to give tangible form to the mysteries of the afterlife for centuries. Celebrated by Mexicans each year during Dia de los Muertos, memorialized with religious icons by the Catholic Church, and popularized in vampire and zombie movies, mortality is a subject that resonates with all. Organized in conjunction with Art After Dark Death on October 28, OMA presented a special two-week exhibition as a visual complement to its dark tableaux of programming. Memento Mori: Remember Your Mortality is a Latin phrase that translates to “remember your mortality,” and was intended to inspire artists to meditate on their understanding of death and what becomes of us all.

OMA had an amazing response to the Memento Mori call to artists. Out of 275 works submitted, 32 pieces were selected by 28 different artists. Participating artists included Dan Allen, Fernando Apodaca, Sue Averell, Mike Calway-Fagen, Shay Davis, Arnaud De Valoise, Angela Kosta, Peter Fay, Patricia Franklin, Arie Galles, Robert Glick, David Gough, Jim Hornung, Ruth Jameson, David Lozeau, Andrew Marino, Elizabeth Mead, George Papciak, Robert Pendleton, Paula Riddle, Jiela Rufeh, Denise Sarram, Scott Saw, Greg Smirnov, Emma Webster, Aron Wiesenfeld, Eric Wixon, and Walter Wojtyla. The exhibition was on view in the OMA Groves Gallery October 15-30, 2011.