Organised by National Gallery
Arts educator and learning curator Jon Sleigh leads an open discussion speculating on the sexual identity of the artist Michelangelo and ultimately, whether we learn more about ourselves, society and current times than we do about the artist or his work.
Examining the four paintings from the collection associated with Michelangelo, we address several questions about art and identity: Is it right and in anyway useful to assert a particular sexual identity of an artist based on the historical evidence that we have? Can we see beyond binary descriptions of identity and sexuality to find deeper readings and nonbinary identities in Michelangelo’s art? And how might these representations uplift those who associate with them today?
Jon Sleigh is joined by artist and researcher Jessie McLaughlin; Dr Gregory Salter, Lecturer in History of Art at Birmingham University; and artist Ric Stott, who come together to think about how heteronormative readings on art and binary definitions can only take us so far.
Image: Detail from Michelangelo, ''The Manchester Madonna'', about 1497, possibly as early as 1494
Speakers
Jessie McLaughlin is an amateur artist working from a queer, Brown, (sometimes sad) perspective, foregrounding emotional experiences and proposing these as valid methods of research. Currently Jessie is doing a PhD with Goldsmiths, University of London and Tate, researching how to decolonise the space of the art museum through working with young people.
Dr Gregory Salter is Lecturer in History of Art in the Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies at Birmingham University. He is a specialist in British art after 1945 and his research to date has focused on home and masculinity in this period.
Ric Stott is an artist whose work draws on his diverse experiences in medical science, theology and art psychotherapy. He explores ideas in his work around sexuality and spirituality and more recently the impact of place on our sense of self.
Jon Sleigh is a freelance arts educator, learning officer and learning curator. He was formerly Learning Officer for the Arts Council Collection based at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.