Beauty through a Contemporary Lens
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 Iveković, 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
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
Practical information
Dates
Location
BOZAR/Centre for Fine Arts
Rue Ravenstein 23 1000 BRUSSELS⚠️
This exhibition contains artworks with nudity.
The recommended minimum age for the Bozar Arcade (installed at the end of the exhibition) is 10 years. If all game-play stations are occupied, we encourage you to watch others playing.
♿
The exhibition is accessible to people with reduced mobility with the assistance of the reception staff at Bozar. The circuit includes eleven rooms. Because of the complexity of the listed building, two rooms may be difficult to access for visitors with reduced mobility.
We kindly ask you to announce your visit in advance. This will enable us to inform you and prepare your visit as well as possible. More info on accessibility.
Rates
MyBozar Card
€ 14
<26 MyBozar Card
€ 9
Standard
€ 18
< 26 year
€ 13
< 18 year
€ 0
>65 year
€ 16
Card : Preferential Reimbursement / EU Disability
€ 9
Accessibility | Wheelchair & Blind
€ 0
Accessibility | Companion wheelchair & Blind
€ 0
museumPASSmusées
€ 0
ICOM
€ 0
Carte press / Perskaarten : VVJ, AJP, IFJ, API-IPA, AICA
€ 0
Brussels Card
€ 0
William Cobbing, Will.je.suis, 2020, video, courtesy of the artist.
Sylvie Fleury, Current Issues (July/August 95), 1995, video, sound, 41 min 51 sec, courtesy of the artist and Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg.
Picture Perfect © We Document Art
Picture Perfect © We Document Art
Sandra Lazzarini, Like The Sky When It Is Silent, 2023. © Sandra Lazzarini
Kristina Varaksina, Jasroop. From the series Essence of Beauty, 2020–2022. Courtesy the artist.
Juno Calypso, Slendertone II, 2015 © Juno Calypso
Picture Perfect © Yannick Sas
Picture Perfect © Yannick Sas
William Cobbing, Will.je.suis, 2020, video, courtesy of the artist.
Sylvie Fleury, Current Issues (July/August 95), 1995, video, sound, 41 min 51 sec, courtesy of the artist and Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg.
Picture Perfect © We Document Art
Picture Perfect © We Document Art
Sandra Lazzarini, Like The Sky When It Is Silent, 2023. © Sandra Lazzarini
Kristina Varaksina, Jasroop. From the series Essence of Beauty, 2020–2022. Courtesy the artist.
Juno Calypso, Slendertone II, 2015 © Juno Calypso
Picture Perfect © Yannick Sas
Picture Perfect © Yannick Sas
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