16 November 2005 – 22 January 2006Queensland Art Gallery

The ‘Kiss of the Beast’ exhibition explores imagery of gorillas, wild beasts and monsters in art, film, science, literature and popular culture from the late nineteenth century to today.
 
‘Kiss of the Beast’ traces depictions of the gorilla after its discovery by Western naturalists in 1847, and examines related debates about Darwinian theory. These debates range from satirical cartoons of gorillas in Punch! magazine to the famous World War One recruiting poster Destroy this mad brute: enlist, which shows Kaiser Wilhelm (as a gorilla) carrying off a woman.
 
‘Kiss of the Beast’ also explores the many incarnations of the 'Beauty and the Beast' tale in art and film. French artist Emmanuel Frémiet’s Gorilla carrying off a woman 1887 and the highly charged image of Fay Wray in the arms of Kong, from the 1933 King Kong film, are key images from the exhibition. More than 100 works — including film, sculptures, paintings, prints, posters, photographs and rare books — feature in the exhibition, which draws connections between debates about evolution, race, sex and aesthetics.
 
Gallery 4Queensland Art Gallery

Admission is free

Take a look inside the ‘Kiss of the Beast’ exhibition with a virtual tour!
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 Exhibition view 1  (438 Kb)

 Exhibition view 2  (426 Kb)

 Exhibition view 3   (420 Kb)