| Learn what 'masculinity' really means to people across the world
In the wake of #MeToo, the image of masculinity has never been in sharper focus. Terms like ‘toxic’ and ‘fragile’ are everywhere, and the Barbican's timely exhibition surveys the representation of masculinity in all its myriad forms, rife with contradiction and complexity.
Masculinities: Liberation through Photography explores how masculinity is experienced, performed, coded and socially constructed - as expressed and documented through photography and film from the 1960s to the present day.
See 300 works by over 50 pioneering artists, photographers and filmmakers, including Richard Avedon, Peter Hujar, Isaac Julien, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annette Messager, Sunil Gupta, Laurie Anderson and Catherine Opie. Learn how photography and film have been central to how masculinities are imagined and understood in contemporary culture. Themes of queer identity, the black body, power and patriarchy, female perceptions of men, hypermasculine stereotypes, fatherhood and family are explored.
Reopen now, and only running until 23 August, this unmissable exhibition flips stereotypes, disrupts myths, and brings together the work of leading 20th century photographers with that of younger, contemporary artists. Crammed with powerful moments, we'd suggest leaving time after the exhibition to wander through the famous Barbican conservatory and let it all sink in.
Image: © Collection T. Dworzak/Magnum Photos | 
