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Wellcome Collection

  • Museums
  • Euston
  • price 0 of 4
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended
  1. © Oliver Knight / Time Out
    © Oliver Knight / Time Out
  2. From 'Death: A Self-Portrait' – © Wellcome Library, London
    From 'Death: A Self-Portrait' – © Wellcome Library, London
  3. © Wellcome Images
    © Wellcome Images
  4. © Wellcome Images
    © Wellcome Images
  5. © Wellcome Images
    © Wellcome Images
  6. © Wellcome Images
    © Wellcome Images
  7. Wandering Moon', shadow installation 2013 – © Wellcome Images, Courtesy B-Floor Theatre/Wandering Moon
    Wandering Moon', shadow installation 2013 – © Wellcome Images, Courtesy B-Floor Theatre/Wandering Moon
  8. Shoichi KOGA, "Seitenmodoki" – © Wellcome Images
    Shoichi KOGA, "Seitenmodoki" – © Wellcome Images
  9. © Wellcome Library, London
    © Wellcome Library, London
  10. 'Monster Soup...' by William Heath – © Wellcome Library, London
    'Monster Soup...' by William Heath – © Wellcome Library, London
  11. Dana Salvo, From the series 'The Day, the Night and the Dead' – © Clark Gallery, courtesy Wellcome Collection
    Dana Salvo, From the series 'The Day, the Night and the Dead' – © Clark Gallery, courtesy Wellcome Collection
  12. © Wellcome Images
    © Wellcome Images
  13. Cafe – © Wellcome Images
    Cafe – © Wellcome Images
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Time Out says

4 out of 5 stars

Sir Henry Wellcome, a pioneering 19th-century pharmacist, amassed a vast and idiosyncratic collection of implements and curios relating to the medical trade, now displayed here. In addition to these fascinating and often grisly items-ivory carvings of pregnant women, used guillotine blades, Napoleon’s toothbrush- there are several serious works of modern art, most on display in a smaller room to one side of the main chamber of curiosities. The temporary exhibitions are often brilliant and come with all manner of associated events, from talks to walks. A £17.5 million development project opened up even more areas of the building to the public including two new galleries and the beautiful Reading Room, which is a combination of library, gallery and event space.

Read more about The Wellcome Collection's weirdest exhibits

Details

Address:
183 Euston Rd
London
NW1 2BE
Transport:
Tube: Euston Rail: Euston
Price:
Free
Opening hours:
Galleries: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat 10am-6pm; Thur 10am-8pm; Sun 11am-6pm Library: Mon-Wed, Fri 10am-6pm; Thur 10am-8pm; Sat 10am-4pm
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What’s on

The Cult of Beauty

Beauty’s a pretty big topic. Almost all of art history, up until postmodernism, dealt with it in some way, whether that’s the divine kind, the physical kind or the ooh-isn’t-that-poppy-field nice kind. But with its usual combination of art, artefact and science, the Wellcome Collection is looking at the physical kind, with diversions into gender binaries, issues of race, the cosmetics industry and what that means for beauty standards.  The whole space is decked out in pink fabric and concrete, like a real life Juno Calypso photo (two of which show up later). It starts with a bust of Nefertiti and seventeenth century drawings of the devil attacking vain women. There are perfect-figured Roman sculptures and turn-of-the-century French corsets, copies of Vogue and a reclining marble Hermaphroditus.  But the show gets so caught up in trying to make points that it forgets to tell a coherent story. It wants to tell you that beauty is a tool of colonialism, a perpetuator of whiteness, or used to enforce gender norms. But it doesn’t bother to explain how beauty went from Rubens to Kate Moss, or the Venus of Willendorf to Nefertiti, how different beauty standards are in Africa or Asia, or how beauty has changed, evolved, mutated.  The points made aren’t the issue, it’s just that it feels like being stuck in an argument instead of walking through an exhibition, being lectured instead of educated.  There are still great things here. Those unsettling Juno Calypso photos, Narcissister’s to

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