Sade, Freedom or Evil

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Image courtesy of CCCB

During his lifetime, writer Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (1740-1814) faced repression, imprisonment and censure and just barely escaped the guillotine. He spent 27 years in prison and ended his career organizing theatrical productions at the Charenton lunatic asylum on the outskirts of Paris. Nevertheless, the rediscovery and publication of his work in the 20th century allowed new generations of writers and authors to adopt his transgressive philosophy and his revolutionary message as a means of liberation from social and moral norms.

While some see him as a controversial, revolutionary and liberating figure, others see him as perverse and corrupting. The dilemma is whether to read Sade as a philosopher to be taken seriously or a novelist who simply creates extreme fantasies.

This exhibit focuses on the multiple echoes and incarna­tions of a controversial cultural icon: it addresses the dif­ferent ways of understanding the author’s work. By look­ing at the reception of Sade by artists and intellectuals and their presence in mass culture, we can understand the impact of his controversial writings. The abundance of cultural productions that refer directly or indirectly to Sade is a symptom of the fascination, discomfort and ambivalence his ideas provoked in the 20th century, his subversive potential and the degree to which his work still resonates today. This exhibit invites the public to review stereotypes—like those associated with the term “sadism”—and to reflect on how Sade can provoke unease or horror while simultaneously being hailed as the personification of the revolution and represented in many aspects of contemporary culture.

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