Kiss of the Beast : From Paris Salon to King Kong

The book Kiss of the Beast: From Paris Salon to King Kong explores images of gorillas, wild beasts and monsters in art, film, science, literature and popular culture from the late nineteenth century to today. It examines humanity's highly charged relationship with primates and draws connections between debates about evolution, race, aesthetics and sex. Many incarnations of the 'beauty and the beast' tale in art and film unfold in Kiss of the Beast - from French artist Emmanuel Frémiet's sculptures of a gorilla carrying off a woman of 1859 and 1887 to the classic 1933 image of Fay Wray in the grip of King Kong. Kiss of the Beast is richly illustrated with film stills from many famous big ape and monster movies - including King Kong, Frankenstein and Creature from the Black Lagoon - as well as posters, sculptures, paintings, print and rare books. The book is published in conjunction with 'Kiss of the Beast', an integrated exhibition and film program presented by the Australian Cinémathèque, Queensland Art Gallery.Gott, Ted is the author of 'Kiss of the Beast : From Paris Salon to King Kong', published 2005 under ISBN 9781876509149 and ISBN 1876509147.