Envisioning Gender and Sexuality in Premodern European Prints
Friday, Oct 17
10 am–5 pm
Hybrid:
School of Art & Design, Room 15, or via Zoom
This symposium will explore artistic production, practices, and the agency of printed media before 1750 as they intersect with themes of sexuality and gender.
Conceptions of sexuality and gender underwent profound changes in Europe during the premodern era (roughly 1300–1750) and were an important avenue of exploration for printmakers. In art prints, broadsheets, fashion plates, and anatomies alike, human subjects were fashioned and viewed in conversation with cultural attitudes and beliefs about gender and sexuality. Canonical works such as Albrecht Dürer’s "Adam and Eve" and Henrick Goltzius’s "Farnese Hercules as Seen from Behind" not only convey notions of artistic excellence but also their ideas about idealized bodies, gender roles, and sexuality. Additionally, gender and sexuality had profound effects on artistic practices and training. In a time when many women were precluded from traditional apprenticeships and professional guilds, printmaking could present alternative paths to collaboration and network building. Moreover, as an artform linked with the broad circulation of knowledge but also with intimate, private viewing, prints open doors to consider how artists and beholders conceived of their own experiences of gender and sexuality in and outside of social norms.
This symposium focused on sexuality and gender, held in conjunction with "Imagination, Faith, and Desire: Art and Agency in European Prints, 1475–1800," will be hybrid, blending in-person presentations with online presentations via Zoom to make the event more equitable and permit international participation and will also include a walk-through of the exhibition.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Nicole Cook, Senior Program Manager at the Center for Netherlandish Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Dr. Cook will share her research about seventeenth-century Dutch prints of “nightwalkers” and how they envisage a space for gender nonconformity.
Registration will open soon.
Krannert Art Museum acknowledges support from Illinois Arts Council.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
KRANNERT ART MUSEUM
2025 EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
AUGUST
26 · KAM Fest 2025, 12–3:30 pm · For U of I students
28 · Grand Reopening Celebration! 4–7 pm · Ribbon-cutting, mini tours, new exhibitions on view, and a performance by Peruvian Quechua rapper Liberato Kani · For everyone!
28 · Opening Day | New Exhibitions:
• Ronny Quevedo: a l l s t a r s
• Fragmented Histories: Andean Art Before 1600
• Reinstallation of the Historical Europoean and American Collection
29 · Liberato Kani in Concert Gallery Art Bar, Urbana, 6–8:30 pm
29 · Conversation & Reception with Liberato Kani | Encanto Restaurant, Urbana, 9 pm
SEPTEMBER
5 · Panel Discussion with Partners in Peru | Fragmented Histories: Andean Art Before 1600, 2 pm · En español e ingles
6 · Artventures for Kids! 1–3 pm
11 · Artist Visit | Ronny Quevedo in Conversation with Amy L. Powell and Allyson Purpura, 5:30 pm
20 · Art Workshop for Adults, 1–3 pm
25 · Opening Day | Imagination, Faith, and Desire: Art and Agency in European Prints, 1495–1800
OCTOBER
2 · SPEAK Café, 6 pm
3 · MFA Dance Thesis Performance: Juli Brandano, 6 pm
4 · Kids at KAM: Artmaking and More! 10:30 am–12:30 pm
11 · Opening Day | Rest Lab 8: Greenspace
17 · Symposium | Envisioning Gender and Sexuality in Premodern European Prints, 10 am–4 pm
18 · Improvisers Exchange: Sonic Location, 1–3 pm
23 · Visiting Artist Talk: Althea Murphy-Price, 5:30 pm
30 · Visiting Artist Talk: Bernard Williams, 5:30 pm
NOVEMBER
6 · Visiting Artist Talk: vanessa german, 5:30 pm
6 · SPEAK Café, 6 pm
22 · Artventures for Kids! 1–3 pm
DECEMBER
Dec 2–6 · Last Week on View | "Ronny Quevedo: a l l s t a r s"
4 · Day With(out) Art: Film Screening and Discussion for World AIDS Day, 5:30 pm
11 · FAA Finals Fest, 1–3 pm · For U of I students
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
For event updates:
kam.illinois.edu/events
You may also like the following events from Krannert Art Museum:
Also check out other
Arts events in Champaign,
Kids events & activities in Champaign,
Entertainment events in Champaign.