Thesis (M.F.A) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (June 30, 2006) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation explores how the male body is utilised and visualised by a selection of gay male artists working within the post-Apartheid South African context. The male body is the means by which they represent these concepts of sexuality and identity. The complexity of contemporary visual arts is, in this dissertation, viewed as a signifier of cultural change. The visibility of gay males in South African society (read as a sign), is also reflected in the foregrounding of male bodies in artworks after 1994. Queer theory and theories of representation are used as a conceptual framework, in which readings are presented of how the male body is interpreted and represented as a site of contestation and convergence of power. The politics of sexuality and identity are represented and discussed in this project through the mediums of painting, photography and installation. These different mediums are linked conceptually, in the same way that sex, gender and sexuality are interlinked; influencing, yet not predetermining each other. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal,Durban, 2006.

Thesis (MA--Art and Design) -- Auckland University of Technology, 2002. / Also held in print (x, 33 leaves, col. ill., 30 cm.) in Wellesley Theses Collection. (T 701.15 HEI)

Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iii, 17, [19] p. : col. ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 17).

Exegesis (MA--Art and Design) -- AUT University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (65 leaves : col. ill. ; 30 cm. + 2 discs) in City Campus Collection (T 700.453 WOO)

published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

In this study, the intersection between the changing use and portrayal of the image of Saint Sebastian, and homosexuality, homoeroticism and HIV/AIDS is investigated through use of literary, theoretical, and visual arts materials. Comparisons between the use and portrayal of Saint Sebastian imagery are informed by Halperin's (1995) and Highwater's (1997) gay analyses of Foucault's theories, allowing very recent changes to be addressed and discussed. Their theories of cultural conflict and social repression are also utilised when discussing gay male positions within wider Western society, and the predominantly white Anglo-middle-class gay movement of Australia, North America and Europe. / The diversity of art expression and the extent of thematic intent in gay images portraying Saint Sebastian, challenges many stereotypes and presumptions made about gay men, and indeed about the impact of HIV/AIDS upon the gay male community. In this study, a historical survey of images is conducted in order to trace changing intentions for the image and explain its current popularity in the homosexual community. Although Foucault, Halperin and Highwater do not directly discuss Saint Sebastian imagery, their theories allow the images to be analysed within a current social context. Further, they recognise that current cultural identity is dependent upon the influences and traditions of the past. This recognition of the past is an important influence upon contemporary artists who wish to explore the legend of Saint Sebastian, even when referencing recent themes and issues related to HIV. / Thesis (MVisualArts)--University of South Australia, 1999.

Thesis (M.A. (Fine Art)) - Rhodes University, 2009.

Thesis (M.A.(Visual Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Nicholas Hlobo, a sculptor and performance artist, and Zanele Muholi, a photographer and activist, explore different ways of representing sexuality, particularly homosexuality. It is extremely difficult to discuss African sexuality in light of the stain of colonial attitudes that have exoticised and ascribed hypersexuality to African bodies. Moreover, sexuality is often not discussed in the construction of so-called African traditions and this has contributed to rendering African-ness as an exclusive identity. Tensions within and between categories of African-ness are compounded by constituted regulations. For example, Hlobo investigates the obligation of circumcision which seems to contrast the lifestyle and contexts in which he works and resides, and Muholi represents the existence of homosexual and transgender relations, even within conservative categories. The visual imagery of these two artists investigates the boundaries set by different social constructs. These set boundaries have also affected crimes against bisexual, transgender and homosexual individuals, which are reaching an alarming rate. Hlobo questions the validity of structures that marginalise homosexual individuals through drawing attention to the ambivalence of certain statutes. Muholi seeks to publicise the injustices imposed upon homosexual individuals in order to demonstrate the weight of that crisis. Although the South African legal system condones liberated expressions of sexual identity, due to social prejudices homosexual individuals are still treated as if they are not entitled to basic human rights. As a result, hate-crimes are not reported, and when they are they are not taken seriously. Hlobo and Muholi not only bring these issues to light, but also point out the dilemma inscribed in the social and political history of (South) Africa with regards to collective and individual identities. This thesis seeks to provide an analysis of the visual language used by Hlobo and Muholi to subvert the notion that homosexuality is “un-African” and to complicate concepts of gender, sexuality and identity.