Symposium: We Could Be Heroes: Monsters and Heroes in Contemporary Art
Date: Friday, March 29, 2013
Location: Brigham Young University Museum of Art in Provo, Utah
The exhibition We Could Be Heroes: The Mythology of Monsters and Heroes in Contemporary Art, delves into our fascination with superheroes and monsters in contemporary pop culture. At the end of this month, a symposium will be held that also examines the relationship between today’s superheroes and the ancient quests of mythological and religious heroes against villainous monsters in recorded history and folklore.
An overabundance of superhero movies has been produced around the world of late—from Hollywood to Chinese cinema to Bollywood—and has become a poignant part of our shared cultural consciousness. The contemporary artworks in this exhibition explore the complexity of the myth of the hero, the hero’s relationship to the monster, how a monster or hero is often defined by perception, and why, for many, comic-book mythologies are becoming the new morality of the twenty-first century. For more information about the exhibition visit: http://
Click here for the symposium schedule.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ben Saunders
Ben Saunders is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Oregon, and specializes in the poetry and drama of the English Renaissance. In the fall of 2009, Professor Saunders curated an exhibition of comic-book art at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum titled Faster than a Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero. Saunders is author of Do The Gods Wear Capes?: Spirituality, Fantasy, and Superheroes and a founder of the undergraduate minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies at the University of Oregon.
Please contact Ann Lambson, Head of Education, at ann_lambson@byu.edu or 801-422-8289 with any questions about the symposium.
Image credit: Elzbieta Jablonska, House Games, 2002, (Washing, Cooking, Laundry) Edition 3/6, C-Print on Sentra faced with UV Plexiglas, 2002
