The show, which runs through May 17th, takes what Pardo calls a “murky premise” as a starting point to examine the works of 56 artists, created between 1960 and today, that respond to traditional notions of what makes a man. In the past six decades, Pardo pointed out, “artists have consistently sought to disrupt and disturb narrow definitions of gender that determine social structures.” These artworks exist as a form of resistance, operating in societies where traditional conceptions of masculinity persist.

“It’s important to say this exhibition is, in part, a celebration of masculinity—patriarchy and the abuse of male power is not synonymous with masculinity,” said Jane Alison, head of visual arts at the Barbican. As the title of the show suggests, the problem is not masculinity in and of itself, but how it has been constructed as a singular ideal—something that, Alison and Pardo believe, photography has the potential to free us from.