Talking Bodies – Body Images in the Poster

Young, white, straight, healthy, and attractive … Ever since the advent of the modern illustrated poster around 1900, the human body has been a popular subject. Its representation mostly follows the rules of the market, where advertising is dominated by stereotypes of a supposedly successful life. How do such images shape our perception of ourselves and the world? And are there effective counterstrategies? In the context of current debates on gender and race, as well as on body optimization and media self-staging, the exhibition questions the body images propagated by our visual culture. Posters from the museum collection meet up with artworks and everyday objects to prompt a multifaceted examination of the body in its cultural, social, and political dimensions.

Note: The exhibition invites viewers to engage critically with historical and contemporary representations of the body. In this context, racist, sexist and otherwise discriminatory images and objects are shown that have shaped our everyday culture and that continue to do so. They may be distressing to some viewers. We recommend that children be accompanied.