Home Exhibitions

The Cult of Beauty

Coming soon
  • Free
  • Exhibition
Photograph of a woman standing in a pink bedroom, surrounded by pink draped curtains, a pink sofa and pink walls. She is wearing a white dress with embroidered floral swirls. The dress is simple in shape and just touched the carpet, hiding her feet. The woman is wearing a pink plastic face mask which covers her whole face, but which replicates the form of a moulded nose, mouth and lips. There are holes cut through the mask for eyes and a mouth. The bottom of the mask is connected to a coiled pink wire which in turn connects to a control unit held in her right hand. On the unit is a red dial and a digital numeric display.
12 Reasons You’re Tired All The Time, Juno Calypso, 2013. © Juno Calypso. Courtesy the artist and TJ Boulting.

Our major new exhibition explores notions of beauty across time and cultures.

Around the world, beauty is constantly seen as an ideal worthy of going to great lengths to achieve. But what are the driving forces that lead us to believe in a myth of universal beauty, despite its evolving nature?

Featuring over 200 items, including historical objects, artworks, films and new commissions, we consider the influence of morality, status, health, age, race and gender on the evolution of ideas about beauty. We invite you to question established norms and reflect on more inclusive definitions of beauty.

Visit us

Opening on 26 October 2023

Free admission

Galleries open Tuesday–Sunday, Opening times

Step-free access is available to all floors of the building

Large-print guides, transcripts and magnifiers are available in the gallery

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call 0 2 0. 7 6 1 1. 2 2 2 2