Beyond the Manosphere: Masculinities Today

Bringing together 35 artists from several generations, the exhibition interrogates masculinity as a performance of power, but also as a lived reality, fragile and contradictory. Striking installations, immersive videos, and bold paintings deconstruct stereotypes of strength and dominance, pitting queer intimacy, racial vulnerability, and everyday banality against the aggression of the “manosphere” fueled by trumpism. Historical works from the 1960s, such as those by Eduardo Paolozzi or Paul McCarthy, intersect with contemporary creations by Salman Toor and Bruno Zhu, exploring class, fetishism, and popular culture. Masculinity emerges plural: authority neighbors tenderness, control coexists with failure, in a field of contested gestures and desires. Sven Gex dissects influencers as new, virile models; Hamishi Farah portraits Wolfgang Tillmans as an icon of the 2000s; SoiL Thornton blocks passages with a “Husband Chair” inflatable, ironically commenting on masculine expectations. Reba Maybury reverses Leo Gestel’s traditional nudes to invert the power dynamics. Without falling into easy indignation, the route invites a nuanced reflection on persistent social norms, celebrating liberated expressions. An essential encounter to decipher current gender tensions, between dominant clichés and multiple hopes.