About the exhibition

Radicals, slayers and villains shows controversial figures from history that have challenged the status-quo and helped shape our world. The striking imagery of these works is captured by seminal artists including Dürer, Goya and Rembrandt. The artists in the exhibition have been instrumental in the development of Western art and the universal theme of the individual and his or her role in society is illustrated through these extraordinarily powerful works. The exhibition has wide appeal through its representation of themes, such as the place and role of the individual in society, the depiction of the human figure, the impact of violence, and death. The often violent imagery depicted in the ‘slayers’ component of the exhibition presented great appeal to artists working from the Renaissance onwards, and inherent in these images is their capacity to shock and inspire awe in contemporary audiences with their lethal armoury of brutal and savage capabilities. The depiction of the human figure is equally arresting in the group of works categorised as ‘villains’, which shows supernatural skeletons bringing death, hybrid fiends, demons, criminals and evil animals all conspiring to throw our existence into turmoil.

Exhibition runs until the 3rd August 2014 in the Noel Shaw Gallery, Baillieu Library. More detail on the website.

All talks are free and open to the public. RSVP via the exhibition website here.

Lecture series

6 May 2014, 11.30am–1pm - Dr Heather Gaunt | Print room perspectives and radiographic practice: visual observation skills for Veterinary Science students at University of Melbourne

13 May 2014, 11.30am–1pm - Dr Felicity Harley-McGowan | Rebellious re-positioning: Rembrandt and the representation of Christ’s descent from the cross

27 May 2014, 9am–1pm - Research on prints: postgraduate students from the School of Culture and Communication give presentations on their recent research into aspects of print culture

3 June 2014, 11.30am–1pm - Kerrianne Stone | ‘Radicals, slayers and villains’, the floortalk

10 June 2014, 11.30am–1pm - Dr Justin Clemens | Martin Luther: Hammer of Idols

22 July 2014, 11.30am–1pm - Dr Colin Holden | ‘Age cannot wither them, nor custom stale their infinite variety': an introduction to prints

27 July 2020 11.30am–1pm - Tim Jones | The print medium employed