Art and Sex

by Watson, Gray

• ISBN13: 9781845116651
• ISBN10: 1845116658
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-09-15
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris

Summary

This " no-holds barred" volume surveys the vast array of images of sex and sexuality in contemporary art, finding sex in some surprising places and drawing some fascinating conclusions. Working outwards from the individual to the world Gray Watson looks at the focus on the body in contemporary art and at the important contributions of the feminist and queer art movements, moving on to uncover sex in the city, sex in nature, sex in the sacred and even sex in cyberspace. The artworks discussed range from playful, even " romantic" work by artists such as Carolee Schneeman, Yayoi Kusama and Sylvie Fleury to darker and more overt work by artists as different as Kiki Smith and Kenneth Anger. Looking into representations of " taboo" sexualities including voyeurism and sado-masochism Watson also discovers the surprising absence of " the missionary position" in contemporary art.

Author Biography

Gray Watson is a Lecturer at the University of the Arts, London and was the Editor of Performance magazine from 1989 to 1993. He has contributed to several books including Derek Jarman: A Portrait (Thames and Hudson, 1996) and Franko B. (Black Dog, 2001).

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Encounter with the Real: Social Otherness, Fragmentation and Mise-en-abime in Los olvidados

Pleasure or Punishment? Abjection, the Vampire Trope and Masochistic Perversions in Viridiana

The Fall from Grace: Anality, the Horizontal Body and Anti-Oedipus in El Angel exterminador

The Invisible Trauma: Violent Fantasies, Repetitions and Flashbacks in Ensayo de un crimen

The Refusal of Visual Mastery: Paranoia, the Scream and the Gaze inEl

Conclusion

Appendix: Synopses of the Films

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.