(Re)thinking Sex through Contemporary Art: The Politics of Scandal, Pleasure, and Disappointment

Part I: Oct. 19, 2011 7pm


How has contemporary art challenged norms of sexuality? Why have works of contemporary art been targeted for political scandal? How does the production of contemporary artists provoke us to confront the complexities of sexual pleasure, pain, and disappointment? Responding to the controversy surrounding the removal of David Wojnarowicz's work A Fire in My Belly (1987) from the exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture at the National Portrait Gallery in late 2010, this two-part lecture series will draw from queer theory and interdisciplinary sexuality studies to examine the role that contemporary art plays in affecting the way we think about sex.

(Re)thinking Sex Through Contemporary Art will be presented by MOCA's Education Outreach Coordinator Jillian Hernandez, creator of the museum's Women on the Rise! program for teenage girls. Ms. Hernandez is a Ph.D. candidate in Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University and an independent curator whose research interests include contemporary art, sexualities, girls' studies, feminist, queer, and critical race theory, and visual culture. Her dissertation The Politics of Sexual Aesthetics: Women and Girls Crafting Bodies examines how norms of race and sexuality shape the social experiences of women and girls today and how women and girls likewise reify, negotiate with and manipulate these conventions through formal and informal expressive practices such as visual art, musical performance, and styling the body. Ms. Hernandez has published work in peer-reviewed and edited publications and has presented research at conferences organized by the College Art Association, Cultural Studies Association, and National Women's Studies Association, among others.

For information call 305.893.6211

MOCA by Moonlight is sponsored by Stephanie and Tom Bloom.