Gropius Bau

Featuring works by Laurie Anderson, Richard Avedon, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Isaac Julien and Annette Messager, a comprehensive group exhibition at the Gropius Bau titled "Masculinities: Liberation through Photography" explores the ways in which masculinity is experienced, performed and socially constructed from the 1960s to the present day.

At a time when ideas around masculinity are undergoing a global crisis and concepts such as “toxic” and “fragile” masculinity are shaping social discourse, over 300 works by 50 international artists such as Laurie Anderson, Richard Avedon, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Peter Hujar, Isaac Julien, Annette Messager and Catherine Opie offer a panorama of filmic and photographic explorations of masculinity rife with contradictions and complexity. Touching on themes of patriarchy, power, queer identity, race, class, sexuality, hypermasculine stereotypes as well as female perceptions of men, the works present masculinity as an unfixed, performative identity.

Curated by Alona Pardo
Organised by Barbican Centre, London