Forms of Enchantment

Forms of Enchantment is an anthology of compelling essays by Marina Warner, one of our pre-eminent writers and critics.

Art-writing at its most useful should share the dynamism, fluidity, and passions of the objects of its enquiry, argues Marina Warner. In this new anthology of some of her most compelling work, she captures the visual experience of the work of several artists—with a notable focus on the inner lives of women—through an exploration of the range of stories and symbols to which they allude.

Metamorphosis features vividly in the imagery, stories, and media of the art that Warner has chosen to write about: in connection with animals in the work of Louise Bourgeois, for instance; with the Catholicism of Damien Hirst; and with performance as a medium of memory and resistance in the installations of Joan Jonas.

Rather than drawing on connoisseurship, Warner’s approach grows principally out of anthropology and mythology. She argues that art and aesthetics increasingly fulfil a magical social function—a principle that runs through these writings to give the collection a quality that is both polemical and coherent.

With an introductory essay and illustrations throughout, Marina Warner investigates how artists noted for their treatment of disturbing, uncanny material have reached beyond the visible to express interior states. Truly inspiring, her writing unites the imagination of artist, writer, and reader, creating a reading experience parallel to the intrinsic pleasure of looking at art.