Join the Beaverbrook Art Gallery for our first Beaverbrook Book Club, featuring Isaac Butler's newly released The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars.
In 1989, Andres Serrano's Piss Christ became the centre of a national controversy over public arts funding, censorship, and artistic expression. Alongside Robert Mapplethorpe's The Perfect Moment retrospective, the work became a flashpoint in America's culture wars, debates that continue to resonate today.
This book club is timed to coincide with Andres Serrano: Incarnate, on view now in the Dalí Chapel. Pick up a copy at the Beaverbrook Boutique, read at your own pace, and join us for a facilitator-led discussion with Dr. Laura Oland, Manager of Education and Public Programs. We'll also visit Incarnate to see Piss Christ in person and explore its connection to Salvador Dalí's Santiago El Grande.
Together, we'll consider the role of museums in presenting challenging work, the line between provocation and expression, and what it means for a gallery to hold a piece with this history in its own collection.
No prior knowledge of art history required, all are welcome.
Meeting: October 22nd at 6:30 pm in the RBC Room.
Please RSVP to education@beaverbrookartgallery.org
