iCCCB – Centre de Cultura Contemporània de BarcelonaRaval
The Cult of Beauty
How ideals of beauty were built, from Antiquity to the cosmetics industry, and a case for the bodies they leave out. Adapted from a Wellcome Collection show.
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One piece in this show asks you to touch and smell. Beauty Sensorium, by Baum & Leahy, revives Renaissance cosmetic traditions through the hands and the nose rather than the eyes.
The curators, Janice Li, blanca arias and Júlia Llull, skipped a chronological route. More than 400 artworks, historical documents, objects and contemporary installations are grouped by theme: Self-Image, which runs from the mirror to digital filters, Dissident Bodies, the sensory dimension, and the hierarchies of race, colonialism and gender that classical sculpture sits alongside. Llull says the aim is "the power of dissidence to reject the canon". If you have ever retaken a selfie on the way to Universitat until the filter looked right, the Self-Image section is your week.
Tickets are €8 online and €10 at the desk. Entry is free on Sundays from 15:00 to 20:00 with advance booking. The audio guide comes in Catalan, Spanish, English and French. It closes on 8 November.
Editor's pick
How ideals of beauty were built, from Antiquity to the cosmetics industry, and the bodies they leave out. Adapted from a Wellcome Collection show. Worth seeing before you next trust a phone filter.
Look for
Beauty Sensorium, Baum & Leahy
A piece that brings Renaissance cosmetic traditions to life through touch and smell instead of looking.
Humanae, Angélica Dass
A project that separates skin colour from identity, shown in the Dissident Bodies section.
Los misterios de las bellezas, Colectivo Ayllu
A work on migration and diaspora, also in the Dissident Bodies section.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Xcessive Aesthetics
In the Self-Image section, a work on how social media has redefined the experience of beauty.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Nerding Out
Also at CCCB – Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
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Image credits
9
- The Cult of BeautyJavier Jaén / CCCB
- Anna Moreno. The Third TwistCourtesy of Anna Moreno and Bernardo Zanotta / MACBA
- Spiral of Time – Plaça dels Àngels – MACBAMACBA
- Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme. Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of FreedomCourtesy of the artists / MACBA
- CCCB – Centre de Cultura Contemporània de BarcelonaFred Romero / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- MACBA – Museu d'Art Contemporani de BarcelonaZarateman / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
- Museu Frederic MarèsEnfo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Casa BatllóChristianSchd / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museu d'Història de Barcelona (MUHBA)J Irigoyen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0