ART318 The Body in Art (8)
The representation of the human figure, clothed or unclad, is the mainspring of Western art, and a significantly absent 'other' in those artistic traditions which are non-figurative. Since the 1960s a number of critiques of traditional Western art have been mounted, in theory and in practice, which have argued that the representation of male and female forms both reflects and reinforces stereotypes which are prejudicial to those social groups who do not have hegemonic control of cultural production. This subject combines theories of representation and gender studies to consider the theoretical, social, and visual impact of changes in representation of the body; why the body has continued as a central motif throughout art history; and the role of censorship and pornography in art and society. While examples of 'the body' as represented in art will be drawn from a wide historical period and range of localities, the critical literature is contemporary, and derives from Kristeva, Irigaray,
and Mulvey.