Information to help you plan and prepare for your visit.
Introduction to ‘The Cult of Beauty’
‘The Cult of Beauty’ is an exhibition.
Source: Wellcome Collection. © Wellcome Collection.
The exhibition is at Wellcome Collection.
Wellcome Collection.
It is in Gallery 1 on level 0 of the building, on the same level as the entrance, to the left of the Information Desk.
The exhibition started on 26 October 2023.
And finishes on 28 April 2024.
The exhibition is free.
You do not need to book: just turn up.
Visiting Wellcome Collection
For more information about
opening times
accessibility
travel
click on this link: Visiting Wellcome Collection visual story.
About the exhibition
This exhibition has three sections:
• The Ideals of Beauty is about the shapes that people find beautiful.
• The Industry of Beauty is about the business behind beauty products.
• Subverting Beauty is about celebrating different ways to be beautiful.
Wellcome Collection.
Sensory map of the exhibition
What is on display
There are 200 different objects and artworks in the exhibition.
These include:
· Books
· Videos
· Paintings
· Posters
· Objects
· Sculptures
· Photographs
Some of the videos have sound you can hear through speakers.
Some of the videos have sound via headsets and headphones.
Some of the works are on open display but can’t be touched.
One room is scented with perfume.
Some of the works have content that some people may find upsetting. There are warnings on the labels next to these works.
You can see the location of this content on the exhibition map, labelled with an exclamation mark symbol.
Section 1: The Ideals of Beauty
The Cult of Beauty exhibition, Wellcome Collection, photographer: Ben Gilbert, 2023. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Wellcome Collection/ Ben Gilbert, 2023.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
The Ideals of Beauty is about the shapes that people find beautiful.
Central photographic artwork, Advertisement: Homage to Benglis, 2011, Cassils. © Cassils. Statues, Equiline Venus and Idolino. Courtesy of the Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge. Gallery Photo: Benjamin Gilbert. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
‘Venus’ and ‘Idolino’
These figures are copies of Roman sculptures. They are made of plaster. Please do not touch.
The Cult of Beauty exhibition, Wellcome Collection, photographer: Ben Gilbert. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Wellcome Collection/ Ben Gilbert, 2023.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
‘An Algorithmic Gaze II’
This is an animated film showing a naked body that changes position and shape.
We Climb, Artwork: Jennifer Ling Datchuk, 2021 ;photographer: Ben Gilbert. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Reproduced with permission of Jennifer Ling Datchuk.Wellcome Collection/ Ben Gilbert, 2023.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
‘We Climb’
This is a ladder made of hair and ceramics. It is about racism towards Chinese people. Please do not touch.
Section 2: The Industry of Beauty
The Cult of Beauty exhibition, Wellcome Collection, photographer: Ben Gilbert, 2023. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Wellcome Collection/ Ben Gilbert, 2023.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
The Industry of Beauty is about the business behind beauty products.
Beauty Sensorium, Artwork by: Renaissance Goo x Baum & Leahy; photographer: Ben Gilbert, 2023. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Renaissance Goo x Baum & Leahy, commissioned by Wellcome Collection/ Ben Gilbert, 2023.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
‘Beauty Sensorium‘
This room is about homemade beauty products of the past. It has sound, smell and sculptures that you can touch.
The Cult of Beauty exhibition, Wellcome Collection, photographer: Ben Gilbert, 2023. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Wellcome Collection/ Ben Gilbert, 2023.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Accessibility and beauty
These beauty products have been designed to be accessible and good for the environment. You are welcome to touch.
The Black Morphew, Artwork by Lauren Bowker, THEUNSEEN, 2023; photographer: Ben Gilbert, 2023. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Lauren Bowker, courtesy of the THEUNSEEN; Wellcome Collection/ Ben Gilbert, 2023.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
‘The Black Morphew’
This head is painted in a special eyeshadow that sparkles when you take a picture of it on your phone’s camera. Please don’t touch.
Section 3: Subverting Beauty
Subverting Beauty is about celebrating different ways to be beautiful.
Permissible Beauty, Artwork by RCMG/ Soup co. , 2022. ; photographer: Ben Gilbert, 2023. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Reproduced with permission of RCMG, University of Leicester/ Soup Co.; Wellcome Collection/ Ben Gilbert, 2023.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
‘Permissible Beauty’
This film shows drag-show artists in a royal palace. It is in a dark room, with bean bags on the floor.
(Almost) all of my dead mother's beautiful things, Artwork: Narcissister, 2023; photographer: Ben Gilbert. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Narcissister, 2023. Commissioned by Wellcome Collection.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
‘(Almost) all of my dead mother’s beautiful things’
This large hanging sculpture in the centre is made up of many objects that belonged to the artist’s mother.
Mirror, mirror on the wall: beauty unravelled in the virtual scroll, Artwork by Xcessive Aesthetics, 2023; photographer: Ben Gilbert. Source: Wellcome Collection. © Xcessive Aesthetics, 2023. Commissioned by Wellcome Collection.. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
‘Mirror, mirror on the wall: Beauty unravelled in the virtual scroll’
This room looks like the mirrors in a nightclub bathroom. It has mirrors, bright screens and projections.
Exhibition accessibility
Wellcome Collection.
There are different accessible guides that are available at the start of the exhibition.
The guides are:
Illustrated gallery guide
Large-print guide
Wellcome Collection.
Digital guide
The digital guide has audio described (AD) and British Sign Language (BSL) tours of the exhibition.
Wellcome Collection.
You can watch or listen by scanning QR codes with a smartphone.
Or you can listen to AD by picking up a touch-button handset and pressing the number of the audio stop.
Source: Wellcome Collection. © Wellcome Collection.
Please ask a member of gallery staff for help with digital guides.
Wellcome Collection.
Text transcripts of audio-only content are also available in the gallery.
Lights Up sessions
We’re providing a series of ‘Lights Up’ sessions during the exhibition.
Relaxed Openings
We’re providing three Relaxed Openings during the exhibition.
