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Vile Bodies

Mary Beard explores ways artists have shown 'forbidden' aspects of the human body – including scenes of sex, violence, death and even defecation - and interviews the artist Tracey Emin.

Classicist and broadcaster Professor Mary Beard explores a broad range of thought-provoking and sometimes controversial works of art that tackle unsettling subjects – works that have been fought over, removed from view or simply 'forbidden'. She delves into the questions of what, why and how art gets forbidden, who gets to decide and how that has changed over time.

In the first programme, Mary explores some of the challenging ways that artists have shown the human body. She begins with the Romans, heading to the British Museum to discuss a statue of the god Pan having sex with a she-goat, and from there moves through art from the Renaissance to the present day that portrays sex, death, violence and beyond.

Mary meets renowned portraitist Daphne Todd as well as contemporary artists Tracey Emin and Martin Creed to discuss works they’ve produced which feature usually private bodily acts or experiences that, for some, have seemed to go too far. She asks why art which depicts some of those actions common to us all can be so disturbing – and what confronting these works might tell us about being human.

59 minutes

Last on

Thu 24 Feb 2022 01:40

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Music Played

  • The Spencer Davis Group

    I'm A Man

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Mary Beard
Director Deborah Lee
Series Producer Deborah Lee
Executive Producer Richard Bradley
Executive Producer Denys Blakeway
Production Company Lion Television

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