Masculinities Under (Re)Construction: Male Bodies Between Phallic and Post-Phallic Visualizations in Art Since 1970

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Cultural and gender-political dynamics, such as women's movements, queer identities, and an increasingly sophisticated arsenal of body optimization, are subjecting masculinity to a profound process of transformation, disposing it increasingly to revision and reconstruction. We see, as a result, both more fluid concepts of masculinity that incorporate conventionally "feminine" qualities, or reject them wholesale, as well as some that seek to resuscitate and reinforce traditional concepts of masculinity. This research investigates these conflicting currents of thought with a focus on visualizations of phallic and post-phallic masculinity in art in the context of cultural-historical and gender-political dynamics from the 1970s to the present from three interlocking perspectives. Firstly, it will examine various reflections on the allegedly authentic bond between male artistic creativity and authority, as well as male sexuality, since 1970 against the backdrop of queer-feminist criticism; secondly, it turns to (re)visions of masculine heroic figures in the context of post-heroic societies since 2001; and, thirdly, to post-human re-conceptions of masculinity as exemplified in the technically and biologically modified male body.