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BiGS Seminar: Trans and Art

When:
Venue: Birkbeck 28 Russell Square

No booking required

Speaker: Nicola McCartney, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London

A short talk (30 mins) and discussion (30 mins) on the politics of drag and transgender in visual culture - is drag discourse still dominated by men? What is the history of transgender art? It is intended that the seminar act as an appendage to some feminist and queer theory taught in the arts and humanities departments. The visibility of drag and trans culture has grown through popular culture and reality TV (RuPaul and Caitlin Jenner) and artists are embracing this too. From Duchamp's drag as Rrose Sélavy through to Grayson Perry and Juliana Huxtable, we will reflect on a potential lineage of gender/off-gender and transgender art, and the role of drag in facilitating these works.

Free event open to all: Book your place

Nicola McCartney is an artist and educator, and lectures in Cultural Studies on the Fashion and Jewellery and Textiles programmes at Central Saint Martins.

Nicola has undertaken residencies overseas and in the UK, and last year at Yinka Shonibare MBE's studio. She is a graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art and obtained her Master's degree in History of Art from Christ Church, University of Oxford. She is currently an Associate Research Fellow in the History of Art Department at Birkbeck, University of London, where she also completed her PhD researching artistic identity and authorship. Her monograph, Death of the Artist: Art World Dissidents and their Alternative Identities is out later this year. Nicola was a Trustee of the Association of Art Historians from 2012-14 and has previously written for British Art Journal, The Spectator and Apollo magazine.


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