Katherine Angel

Cynthia A. Graham

Shereen El-Feki

Alyce Mahon

John Bancroft

Christopher Turner

A candid exploration of the most publicly discussed of private acts--sex--and those who have devoted their lives to studying it. Looking at key sexologists throughout history including Sigmund Freud, Marie Stopes, and Alfred Kinsey, this book investigates how sex research has shaped our current attitudes toward sexual behavior and identity. From anthropological surveys and questionnaires to ancient sex toys and machines, The Institute of Sexology presents fascinating findings alongside a wide range of rare documents, artworks, photographs, and erotica from the past. Spanning several centuries, the book delves deeply into sexual practices and conventions from all over the world at different time periods. From raunchy ancient carvings to 1920s erotic postcards, The Institute of Sexology proves that kink has been around for longer than you think. The book's compilation of sexually progressive memorabilia opens a visually stimulating discussion on the topics of sexual freedom and fetishism. Through their documentation of courtship rituals from faraway lands and their historical government-sponsored sexual questionnaires, sexologists encourage us to take a critical look at our approach to sexual practices. Sexologists have hugely influenced our attitude toward this most basic of subjects, yet The Institute of Sexology reminds us that while contemporary reservations on sexuality are being loosened, there were times in the past when sex and sexual identity were explored much more openly. Preconceived ideas are thrown out the window in this richly illustrated book that suggests our understanding of sex is in constant evolution. The Institute of Sexology highlights the profound effect that the gathering and analysis of information can have in changing attitudes and lifting taboos.

The Institute of Sexology

"This is the first book to examine the cultural history of Marquis de Sade's (1740-1814) philosophical ideas and their lasting influence on political and artistic debates. An icon of free expression, Sade lived through France's Reign of Terror, and his writings offer both a pitiless mirror on humanity and a series of subversive metaphors that allow for the exploration of political, sexual, and psychological terror. Generations of avant-garde writers and artists have responded to Sade's philosophy as a means of liberation and as a radical engagement with social politics and sexual desire, writing fiction modelled on Sade's novels, illustrating luxury editions of his works, and translating his ideas into film, photography, and painting. In The Sadean Imagination, Alyce Mahon examines how Sade used images and texts as forms that could explore and dramatize the concept of terror on political, physical, and psychic levels, and how avant-garde artists have continued to engage in a complex dialogue with his works. Studying Sade's influence on art from the French Revolution through the twentieth century, Mahon examines works ranging from Anne Desclos's The Story of O, to images, texts, and films by Man Ray, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Guillaume Apollinaire, Jean-Jacques Lebel, and Peter Brook. She also discusses writings and responses to Sade by feminist theorists including Angela Carter and Judith Butler. Throughout, she shows how Sade's work challenged traditional artistic expectations and pushed the boundaries of the body and the body politic, inspiring future artists, writers, and filmmakers to imagine and portray the unthinkable"--

The Marquis de Sade and the Avant-Garde

Art? Erotica? Or Pornography? Discussions of what actually constitutes erotic art are incredibly complex and usually highly controversial. The naked body in art has been with us since the earliest examples of Greek art and sculpture. The creation and display of such works of art has always inflamed opinion and today, even withour supposed relaxation of the codes of behaviour surrounding nudity, such images are considered provocative, dangerous, and are often unwelcome in the public sphere.Now - focusing on the last 150 years of western art, these debates are finally explored in an imaginative and engaging way using the latest research and analysis into this and related subject areas - by a woman.

Eroticism and Art

Robert Fleck

Axel Heil

Jean-Jacques Lebel

This book is devoted to the artistic work of Jean-Jacques Lebel, the French artist, poet, publisher and political activist.The focus is on the 'happenings' of the 1960s, which are documented in numerous illustrations and analyzed in detail by Dr. Alyce Mahon, an Art historian at the University of Cambridge.Texts by Félix Guattari (1988) and Robert Fleck examine Lebel's signature pictorial method of montrage (from 'montage' and the French montrer, 'to show').

Special Edition Accompanying the Exhibition Jean-Jacques Lebel. Die Höchste Kunst Ist Der Aufstand. The Highest of All the Arts is Insurrection, ZKM Media Museum, July 26- November 09, 2014

Jean-Jacques Lebel. Barricades

Ann Coxon

Idoia Murga Castro

A major retrospective of the seven-decade career of Dorothea Tanning, the multifaceted artist who pushed the boundaries of surrealist art American artist Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012) redrew the boundaries of surrealism. She first encountered the movement in New York in the 1930s, and in the 1940s, she married fellow painter Max Ernst and moved to the Arizona desert. Although surrounded by a vast landscape, her paintings from this time depict claustrophobic domestic spaces. From Paris in the 1950s, Tanning's paintings became more abstract. In the 1960s, she created uncanny soft sculptures featuring contorted and intertwined bodies, connecting her lifelong interest in music and dance. In Dorothea Tanning, Alyce Mahon provides a comprehensive overview of Tanning's multilayered career. Idoia Murga Castro considers Tanning's love of ballet, and Ann Coxon explores Tanning's influence today.

Alyce Mahon

Books

Your next favorite book is out there