What does it mean to be beautiful today? Who gets to decide? And how do images shape the way we see ourselves—and each other? Bringing together the work of 65 artists from across continents and generations, Picture Perfect examines how lens-based media have played a pivotal role in producing, reinforcing and challenging dominant Western beauty standards. At once critical and emancipatory, the exhibition unfolds as a manifesto: a declaration that seeks not only to question inherited ideals, but to expand and redefine beauty as a space of freedom, multiplicity and humanity.
With works by: Ibrahim Ahmed, Yumna Al-Arashi, Francesca Allen, Sarah Amrani, Susan Anderson, Eleanor Antin, Alexandra Barancovà & Jae Perris, Baloji, Valérie Belin, François Bellabas, Kwame Brathwaite, Nakeya Brown, Juno Calypso, William Cobbing, John Coplans, Eli Cortiñas, Nicola Costantino, Laure Cottin Stefanelli, Mélanie Courtinat, Sara Cwynar, Rineke Dijkstra, Philippe Durand, Sylvie Fleury, Bryce Galloway, Moshtari Hilal, Anne Horel, Sanja Ivekovic, Yuki Kihara, Sandra Lazzarini, Ethel Lilienfeld, Linder, Lucy&Bart, Luna Maurer, James McColl, Ana Mendieta, Haley Morris-Cafiero, Zanele Muholi, Zed Nelson, J.D. ‘Okhai Oijekere, ORLAN, Frida Orupabo, Guillaume Pauli, Andrés Pérez, Cara Phillips, Momo Pixel, Angelo Plessas, Marilou Poncin, Chantal Regnault, Pipilotti Rist, Martha Rosler, Errol Stanley Sawyer, Cindy Sherman, Marianna Simnett, Sin Wai Kin, Ruofu Sun & Alice Yu, Ryudai Takano, Amélie Testenoire – Lafayette, Maria Tsagkari, Kristina Varaksina, Hiroshi Watanabe, Hannah Wilke, Hank Willis Thomas, Roel Wouters, Garry Winogrand, Aviya Wyse
Explore Picture Perfect on Bloomberg Connects: exhibition texts, artist interviews, Sofa Sessions and more.
Some works in this exhibition contain nudity and images that may be disturbing to some visitors. Please take this into consideration when planning your visit.
"Picture Perfect revisits the theme from a contemporary angle, and explores present-day definitions of physical beauty through photographs and videos from the 1960s to today." The New York Times
“All killer, no filler”: exhibition at Bozar punctures 50 years of Western beauty ideals." De Standaard
