Mary Beard's Forbidden Art

Editorial

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Documentaries

Factual

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Mary Beard art that has been fought over, removed from view or simply 'forbidden'.

Art that challenges, questions and appals. Professor Mary Beard confronts controversial works tackling such unsettling subjects that they’ve been fought over, removed or 'forbidden'.

Series 1

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Mary Beard

Deborah Lee

Richard Bradley

Denys Blakeway

Lion Television

Mary Beard's Forbidden Art: Series 1: Vile Bodies

Vile Bodies

BBC Two - Mary Beard's Forbidden Art, Series 1, Vile Bodies

Mary Beard explores the ways artists have shown 'forbidden' aspects of the human body.

Mary Beard explores ways artists have shown 'forbidden' aspects of the human body – including scenes of sex, violence, death and even defecation - and interviews the artist Tracey Emin.

Classicist and broadcaster Professor Mary Beard explores a broad range of thought-provoking and sometimes controversial works of art that tackle unsettling subjects – works that have been fought over, removed from view or simply 'forbidden'. She delves into the questions of what, why and how art gets forbidden, who gets to decide and how that has changed over time.

In the first programme, Mary explores some of the challenging ways that artists have shown the human body. She begins with the Romans, heading to the British Museum to discuss a statue of the god Pan having sex with a she-goat, and from there moves through art from the Renaissance to the present day that portrays sex, death, violence and beyond.

Mary meets renowned portraitist Daphne Todd as well as contemporary artists Tracey Emin and Martin Creed to discuss works they’ve produced which feature usually private bodily acts or experiences that, for some, have seemed to go too far. She asks why art which depicts some of those actions common to us all can be so disturbing – and what confronting these works might tell us about being human. 

Mary Beard's Forbidden Art: Series 1

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Mary Beard's Forbidden Art

Series 1

Vile Bodies

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Two Northern Ireland

About BBC Two