This issue of Art and Design addresses some key aspects of current debate in relation to contemporary art. It offers general theoretical articles addressing the links between art and the sublime made by Jean-Francois Lyotard and by feminist thinkers. It also considers the relevance of the sublime to contemporary artists such as Philip Taaffe, Damien Hirst and Cornelia Parker, with reference to artists such as Barnett Newman, Malevich and Rothko. This book is as much about themes as about specific artists and aims to raise questions involving contemporary attitudes to such topics as nature, violence and sexuality.