Art, Gender, Sexuality and the Body - SAHT2642
Description
This course concentrates on art after 1960 which deals with issues of gender, sexuality and the body. The course begins with an examination of postminimalism, performance and body art. It examines the rise of women's art in the 1960s and 70s, the first art to self-consciously attempt to represent gender difference, and will track the shifting concerns and debates in art about the body, gender and sexuality from then until now. This period coincides with an explosion of feminist theory and the widening of feminist debates to include questions of sexuality, race and ethnicity. The course will explore the particular ways in which these debates are refracted through art practice and art history. Key questions to be explored in the course include: How can the body be used as an expressive medium? How are sexuality and gender represented? How does art practice relate to both identity formation and fantasy? Topics to be covered include: the rise of body art; performance and masochism; performance and sexuality; masquerade; gay, lesbian, queer and trans art; bad girl and sick boy art in the 1990s; and global feminisms.