Curatorial Statements

By its name – Morbid Curiosity – the exhibition is intended to intrigue and invite the viewer into a conversation about death – an event that every living organism consistently shares. Universally, we come from different backgrounds, cultures, and religious beliefs, but the inevitable aspect of death is common to us all.

This exhibition is an exploration of the ways in which cultures and societies have dealt with and interpreted the concept of mortality. Richard Harris has assembled a collection that, whether or not he knew it at the time, is itself a massive Memento Mori – an homage to death in which we, the viewers, may interpret and reflect about war, spirituality, religion, and personal beliefs that influence each and every one of us.

Many artworks in this exhibition reflect the idea of hiding from death. After spending over a year studying and organizing Richard Harris’s collection, I have come to realize that confronting the idea of death – looking it in the eye – is preferable to ignoring its inevitability. In spending time with this remarkable collection, I have been surprised by the change in my way of thinking about death, and about my own mortality. I hope that visitors to the exhibitions will be similarly inspired.

Lucas Antony Cowan,
Senior Curator
Chicago Cultural Center

I love the drama embodied by the Kunstkammer or ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ portion of the exhibition in Sidney Yates Gallery. The architecture of the room is a perfect backdrop for the diverse cultures and time periods represented by the collection, and becomes itself a part of the conversation about the exhibition. The drama of the War Room in the Exhibit Hall is resident in the content of the artwork – war has never been a pretty subject, and Richard Harris’s collection includes manifold representations of the miseries we do not wish to imagine have been repeated through the centuries. Will we never learn?

By amassing an encyclopedic collection surveying the way that death has been portrayed in art over the centuries, Richard Harris himself is the true curator of this exhibition. The works in these two galleries represent only a portion of his collection, and the most difficult part of the two year process assembling this exhibition was to have to say, “No, we can’t include that Richard; there just isn’t any more room.”

My colleague Lucas Antony Cowan designed the beautiful display of Richard's morbid collection, and my role was managing the many details of presenting this information to the public. There is simply too much to see in one visit so we hope you will come back often, and enjoy the related programs here at the Chicago Cultural Center taking place during the run of the exhibition.

Debra Purden
Curator and Registrar
Chicago Cultural Center