The Museu de l’Art Prohibit collection brings together over 200 artworks that have been censored, prohibited or denounced due to political, social or religious reasons. The collection comprises a diverse range of artworks, including paintings, sculptures, engravings, photographs, installations and audiovisual pieces, largely created during the second half of the 20th century and throughout the 21st century. They collectively represent numerous cases that have often transcended into mainstream media and social networks.
Among the collection are works by internationally acclaimed artists such as Ai Weiwei, Robert Mapplethorpe and Tania Bruguera. It also includes iconic pieces from the history of contemporary art, such as León Ferrari’s Western and Christian Civilization and Andrés Serrano’s Piss Christ, both of which have long been at the centre of contentious debates. Additionally, it includes creations by figures like Pablo Picasso, Francisco de Goya and Gustav Klimt—artists who haven’t been immune to acts of censorship. Collectively, the numerous works that comprise this collection traverse a timeline stretching from the Enlightenment period to the neoliberal societies of today, spanning from the 18th to the 21st century.
The collection was initiated by journalist and entrepreneur Tatxo Benet, (Lleida, 1957), with the artwork Presos Políticos en la España Contemporánea (Political Prisoners in Contemporary Spain) by Santiago Sierra. This piece was removed from ARCO in 2018 and is currently on loan to the Museum of Lleida, where it is available for public viewing. Since then, Tatxo Benet has continuously expanded and strengthened the collection, ensuring its accessibility to visitors. As a founding member of the audiovisual group Mediapro, Tatxo Benet is also the driving force behind various cultural projects, including the Ona bookshop on Pau Claris and the Suma Llibres publishing group.
DISCOVER THE
ARTISTS AND THE ARTWORKS
*The artworks marked in red are currently on display.
AI WEIWEI *
Miguel Andrés
ABDUALMALIK ABUD *
DARJA BAJAGIĆ
Breno Barbosa
THOMAS BAUMGÄRTEL
Amina Benbouchta *
STANLEY BERMUDEZ
Ramón Bilbao
TANIA BRUGUERA *
Cristóbal Cea
FABIÁN CHÁIREZ *
Laura Corcuera & Mónica Cofiño
DAVÍN
Juan Domingo
ELEAZAR
Marcelo Expósito
Fills Putatius de Miró (FPDM)
JOAN FONTCUBERTA
FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES*
Núria Güell & Levi Orta *
RICHARD HAMBLETON *
Margaret Harrison
WILLIAM KLEIN
Jani Leinonen *
NATALIA LL *
Joserra Lozano
BYRON MAHER
María Evelia Marmolejo
LEENA MCCALL
Eugenio Merino *
MARTA MINUJÍN
Zanele Muholi *
ANTONI MUNTADAS
Hermann Nitsch & André Morain
TERRY O'NEILL *
Yoshua Okón *
BENITO PAJARES
David Reeb
PABLO R. PICASSO *
Aidan Salakhova
KIM SEO-KYUNG & KIM EUN-SUNG *
Santiago Sierra
FEDERICO SOLMI
JEAN VEBER
Andy Warhol *
XIMI
Borja Zabala & Artur Lleó
Muhammad Ansi *
Mounir Fatmi
RADA AKBAR
Anònim
SABRI AL QURASHI *
Abel Azcona *
BANKSY *
Miquel Barceló *
FEDERICO BELTRÁN MASSES
Jordi Benito
CLEMENTE BERNAD
Zoulikha Bouabdellah *
JUAN FRANCISCO CASAS *
David Černý *
CHUCK CLOSE *
Charo Corrales *
ALBERTO DE LAS HERAS
Ines Doujak *
EQUIPO CRÓNICA *
Zoya Falkova *
LEÓN FERRARI *
Saul Fletcher
DANIEL GARCÍA ANDÚJAR
Illma Gore *
NÚRIA GÜELL
Bruce Habowski
KEITH HARING *
Iron
GUSTAV KLIMT *
Hung Liu
PERE LLOBERA
Jesús Lozano
ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE *
Alfredo Márquez
JOSEPHINE MECKSEPER *
Miaz Brothers
PIERRE MOLINIER *
Mujeres Públicas *
HERMANN NITSCH & LUDWIG HOFFEREICH
Nuno Nunes-Ferreira
DANIEL OCHOA DE OLZA
Álvaro Oyarzún
ERIK RAVELO
Oliver Ressler
AUSÍN SÁINZ
Larissa Sansour & Søren Lind *
ANDRES SERRANO *
Nacho Simal
ANTONI TÀPIES
María Eugenia Trujillo
GROUP SUSPIFIC
David Wojnarowicz *
ALI YASS