Jeremy Biles

Jeremy Biles, PhD, teaches courses on “ulterior religions,” philosophy, dreams, monsters, and photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is the author of Ecce Monstrum: Georges Bataille and the Sacrifice of Form (Fordham University Press, 2007) and co-editor (with Kent Brintnall) of Negative Ecstasies: Georges Bataille and the Study of Religion (Fordham, 2015). He is also the short reviews editor for the Religious Studies Review.

(A)theologies, Archive, CultureMay 20, 2016

Captain America: Civil Religion (And Why Donald Trump Thinks He’s Batman)

By Jeremy Biles

As of this writing, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War is 2016’s biggest movie worldwide. If pop…

CultureSeptember 14, 2011

Picasso’s Sacred Monster Eats Chicago: A Mystery Solved?

By Jeremy Biles

What does this mysterious sculpture depict? Popular answers include: an aardvark, a bird, an Afghan hound, and one of Picasso’s lovers. But to my eyes, it looks like a sphinx—a monster that (like the anamorphic skull haunting Hans Holbein’s famous painting The Ambassadors) only snaps into focus when viewed from an oblique perspective. To perceive the recumbent sphinx you have to approach the piece not from the front but from behind and to the side.

(A)theologiesApril 22, 2011

The Scandal of the Cross

By Jeremy Biles

It’s Easter weekend, and French vandals armed with hammers have given further reason for contemplating the crucifixion, or at least its representation.

CultureMay 21, 2010

Lady Gaga’s Secret Religion

By Jeremy Biles

Is Lady Gaga (the self-proclaimed “fame monster” so well known for her enticing pop music, outrageous fashion, and elaborately staged spectacles) involved in a pseudo-religious conspiracy of global moment? The answer is “yes”—but not for the reasons that…

CultureMay 12, 2010

I Want a Perfect Body

By Jeremy Biles

Americans are the inheritors of a religious tradition that holds that inner goodness is reflected in outer beauty—but the pursuit of bodily perfection is an endeavor, both personal and commercial, that has global reach. Whether someone is looking for a better nose, or for immortality, the quest has everything to do with religion.