Psychoanalysis has been used to discuss visual pleasure and the significance of the gaze in the apprehension of art. Freud suggested that visual pleasure is also related to shame, the complex, universal and painful affect that connects subjects to social relations. The recent publication Shame and Sexuality: Psychoanalysis and Visual Culture brings the issue of shame into sharp focus by using psychoanalysis as a method for the analysis of visual culture. The authors will present their topics in relation to Tate’s current exhibitions and displays and launch the book as a contribution to visual culture debates. This event is chaired by Tamar Garb (University College London), panellists Griselda Pollock (University of Leeds), Malcolm Pines (psychoanalyst), Claire Pajaczkowska (Royal College of Art), Amna Malik (Slade School of Fine Art) and Ivan Ward (Freud Museum) will present a number of perspectives on shame, sexuality, the gaze and the image today.
