«

Currently reading : The Institute of SEXOLOGY at The Wellcome Collection

The Institute of SEXOLOGY at The Wellcome Collection

28 July 2014

Author : reba

 

UNDRESS YOUR MIND

 

In November the Wellcome Collection in London will be opening their latest exhibition The Institute of Sexology to the pulbic which will be running until September 2015. This impressive new exhibition will explore a vast range of human desire throughout history from exploring a different selection of sex toys to understudying the work or pioneers such as Magnus Hirschfeld, Marie Stopes, Alfred Kinsey, Margaret Mead, William Masters, Virginia Johnson and Sigmund Freud.

From Alfred Kinsey’s complex questionnaires to the contemporary National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal), ‘The Institute of Sexology’ will investigate how the practice of sex research has shaped our ever-evolving attitudes towards sexual behaviour and identity.

Featuring over 200 objects spanning art, rare archival material, erotica, film and photography, the exhibition will evolve over the course of the year, with new commissions, live interventions, discussions and performances within the gallery space.

Find out more about this super exciting and sexy exhibition here

3849e963-6f16-48a7-a861-1ec2d8e622fa-319x480
Collection of sexual aids, with instructions, in a wooden box, by Arita Drug and Rubber Goods Company, Kobe, Japan, 1930 to 1935.

 

A camel composed of copulating humans, gouache painting, 19th-century India. Photograph: Wellcome Images
A camel composed of copulating humans, gouache painting, 19th-century India. Photograph: Wellcome Images
Porcelain fruit, hinged, contains male and female copulating, oriental.
Porcelain fruit, hinged, contains male and female copulating, oriental.

 

 

Back view of standing figure, nude except for stockings. Anonymous/The Kinsey Institute
Back view of standing figure, nude except for stockings. Anonymous/The Kinsey Institute
Jugum penis, anti-masturbation device, steel, nickel-plated, probably British, 1880-1920.
Jugum penis, anti-masturbation device, steel, nickel-plated, probably British, 1880-1920.

 

Lili Elbe, watercolour attributed to Gerda Wegener, circa 1929. Elbe had five gender reassignment operations. Photograph: Wellcome Images
Lili Elbe, watercolour attributed to Gerda Wegener, circa 1929. Elbe had five gender reassignment operations. Photograph: Wellcome Images
Ivory shell, divided into two halves, one half showing female genitalia, the other a carving of a woman looking at an erotic picture.
Ivory shell, divided into two halves, one half showing female genitalia, the other a carving of a woman looking at an erotic picture.
Alfred Kinsey lecturing at the University of California, Berkeley. Anonymous/The Kinsey Institute
Alfred Kinsey lecturing at the University of California, Berkeley. Anonymous/The Kinsey Institute
Set of 12 rubber measuring rings and Clinocap diaphragms, made specially for Dr Marie Stopes, 1934.
Set of 12 rubber measuring rings and Clinocap diaphragms, made specially for Dr Marie Stopes, 1934.

Categories : Art Shows & EventsHistoryInspirationLondonSexTaboo

Share :

Related articles

Experimentum crucis

19 March 2014
comic/tragic

23 November 2010
An Interview with a perfume archivist on scent, sex and the body

18 June 2015
Direct Abstraction

17 November 2012
Instruction

14 November 2009