The Kinsey Institute will open two exhibitions titled “The Taste of Seduction” and “Undress Me” 4:30 to 7 p.m. Friday in Morrison Hall.
Kinsey Institute Curator Catherine Ann Johnson-Roehr said the institute will use both of its galleries to showcase its collection of art and artifacts to teach people about sexual ?expression in art.
“Our primary objective is to share pieces with the public which are meant to be educational but also interesting and enjoyable,” Johnson-Roehr said. “We like to use our gallery to show our own material and let people know what we have in our archives.”
The exhibit “The Taste of Seduction” will examine the enjoyment of food and drink with romance and sex.
Kinsey curators will display a collection of depictions of food and beverages that includes more than 50 photographs, prints, paintings, artifacts and ceramic and glass objects that all relate to the consumption of food and beverages and its association with sexual desire, romantic love and seduction, according to the institute’s website.
This exhibition is linked to the 2014 Themester “Eat, Drink, Think: Food from Art to Science.”
“This reception will provide the opportunity to sample various foods and drinks associated with romance and seduction, such as chocolate, honey and oysters,” Johsnon-Roehr said. “We will have information about the various foods and our researchers will be on hand to answer questions about the effectiveness of aphrodisiacs.”
Instead of catering, the gallery will put out aphrodisiac foods that are said to have a stimulating effect with romance and seduction. Examples of these foods are oysters, chocolate, chili peppers, bananas, asparagus, coffee and avocados.
For the new “Undress Me” exhibit, there will be a selection of vintage photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries owned by the Kinsey Institute of women in lingerie, along with seven mannequins wearing clothing from the Sage Selection at IU.
“Women’s fashions are always changing and evolving, and undergarments are used to create different body shapes to fit the clothes of each era,” Johnson-Roehr said. “As part of the exhibition, we are showing a series of advertisements from women’s magazines and catalogs, which illustrate how clothes are sold to women with the promise that they will ‘fix’ imperfections and enable women to achieve whatever body shape is popular at that time.”
Fashion ranging from the late 1890s to the 1920s will be displayed, such as corsets, brassieres and undergarments, which will show a transition of what women wore throughout the century.
This will be the second time the Kinsey Institute has collaborated with the Sage Selection.
Since the fashion department didn’t have a gallery to display the selection, the Kinsey Institute will display it in its gallery.
This exhibit will provide a wide variety of artwork that is considered by ?curators as sexually ?explicit.
Kinsey suggests visitors should be 18 years or older, unless they are accompanied by a parent or ?guardian.
This will be the first event of the fall for the Kinsey Institute.
Researchers from the institute will be present at the event to offer information on each display and the institute.
“We are hoping to see lots of students at our reception,” Johnson-Roer said. “By having an event like this, the Kinsey Institute is hoping to get people to notice the gallery and find out a bit more about the center and its useful resources at our library.”
