Discover Banned and Censored Artworks | Museu de l'Art Prohibit Barcelona

THE COLLECTION

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 with a red asterisk are currently on display.

ABDUALMALIK ABUD *

RADA AKBAR

Miguel Andrés

Muhammad Ansi *

DARJA BAJAGIĆ

Breno Barbosa

THOMAS BAUMGÄRTEL

Amina Benbouchta *

STANLEY BERMUDEZ

Ramón Bilbao

Zoulikha Bouabdellah *

TANIA BRUGUERA *

Cristóbal Cea

FABIÁN CHÁIREZ *

Laura Corcuera & Mónica Cofiño

EQUIPO CRÓNICA *

ALBERTO DE LAS HERAS

Ines Doujak *

Marcelo Expósito

Mounir Fatmi

Saul Fletcher

DANIEL GARCÍA ANDÚJAR

FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES*

Núria Güell & Levi Orta *

RICHARD HAMBLETON *

Margaret Harrison

KIM SEO-KYUNG & KIM EUN-SUNG *

GUSTAV KLIMT *

Hung Liu

PERE LLOBERA

Joserra Lozano

ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE *

Alfredo Márquez

PAUL MCCARTHY

Eugenio Merino *

PIERRE MOLINIER *

Mujeres Públicas *

Hermann Nitsch & André Morain

Nuno Nunes-Ferreira

DANIEL OCHOA DE OLZA

Álvaro Oyarzún

PABLO PICASSO *

ERIK RAVELO

Oliver Ressler

Aidan Salakhova

CLARET SERRAHIMA

Santiago Sierra

FEDERICO SOLMI

ANTONI TÀPIES

JEAN VEBER

David Wojnarowicz *

ALI YASS

AI WEIWEI *

SABRI AL QURASHI *

Anònim

Abel Azcona *

BANKSY *

Miquel Barceló *

FEDERICO BELTRÁN MASSES

Jordi Benito

CLEMENTE BERNAD

Borja Zabala & Artur Lleó

Miaz Brothers

JUAN FRANCISCO CASAS *

David Černý *

CHUCK CLOSE *

Charo Corrales *

DAVÍN

Juan Domingo

ELEAZAR

Zoya Falkova *

LEÓN FERRARI *

JOAN FONTCUBERTA

Illma Gore *

NÚRIA GÜELL

Bruce Habowski

KEITH HARING *

Iron

WILLIAM KLEIN

Jani Leinonen *

NATALIA LL *

Jesús Lozano

BYRON MAHER

María Evelia Marmolejo

LEENA MCCALL

JOSEPHINE MECKSEPER *

MARTA MINUJÍN

Zanele Muholi *

ANTONI MUNTADAS

HERMANN NITSCH & LUDWIG HOFFEREICH

TERRY O'NEILL *

Yoshua Okón *

BENITO PAJARES

Fills Putatius de Miró (FPDM)

David Reeb

AUSÍN SÁINZ

Larissa Sansour & Søren Lind *

ANDRES SERRANO *

Nacho Simal

GROUP SUSPIFIC

María Eugenia Trujillo

Andy Warhol *

XIMI