Sade, source of stereotypes
The exhibition Freedom or Evil reviews the figure of the aristocrat and his influence in the field of Western thought up to the present day.
The libertine writer Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (1740 - 1814) is a controversial figure. Some see him as a revolutionary and liberating thinker, others as a pernicious and corrupting author. His writings can be interpreted in opposite directions, between praise and revulsion.
In order to address all these visions, the CCCB has programmed the exhibition Sade. Freedom or Evil, curated by Alyce Mahon and Antonio Monegal. The exhibition explores the aesthetic, philosophical and political legacy of the Marquis de Sade in contemporary culture, from the avant-gardes of the early 20th century to the present day, through the impact of his work on a series of artists and intellectuals such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Salvador Dalí, Man Ray and Pier Paolo Pasolini. These are views and reflections on freedom of expression, the transmutation of gender roles, desire, violence, the institutionalisation of terror and the role of the pornographic imagination.
A visit to the exhibition begins with a biographical prologue, continues with four thematic areas -Transgressive Passions, Perverse Passions, Criminal Passions and Political Passions- and ends with an epilogue on his theatrical vocation. The tour contains documentation of historical performances by Jean Benoît and Jean-Jacques Lebel, photographic projects by Marcelo Brodsky, Robert Mapplethorpe, Pierre Molinier and Susan Meiselas, as well as references to works of literature, film and comics, and video interviews with philosophers and researchers.
In the exhibition, installations by Laia Abril, Paul Chan, Shu Lea Cheang, Teresa Margolles, Joan Morey and Kara Walker coexist with new productions by Joan Fontcuberta and Domestic Data Streamers, with references to the stage works of Angélica Liddell, Albert Serra and Candela Capitán, and with the filming of a fragment of Bernard Noël's Le retour de Sade, directed by Guillem Sánchez Garcia.
The ticket to visit Sade. Freedom or Evil costs 6 euros and can be purchased online by clicking here. In the foyer you will find La Impropia: a free access space with a small library on dissident sexualities that will host numerous meetings, conversations and workshops on this topic.