Shanghai's OCAT gallery is under scrutiny after an exhibit was put on display that ranked women from most to least attractive. The artist has been under fire for projects like this in the past.
Song Ta has received criticism for his work before. He created a live runway show in September 2013 called"One Worse Than the Other," which stirred up controversy. During the Wuhan show, 44 female volunteers walking out onstage in order of who he deemed the prettiest, ending with those he thought were the least attractive.
Ta told Vice in 2019 that he and his assistants ranked women into categories, putting the"ugly" women into either"forgivably ugly" or"unforgivably ugly" categories."In the end, it was scary," he told Vice."They were normal people, not missing an arm or an ear or an eye, but just so ugly that it made people uncomfortable."
He added,"I objectify you in an honest way, that's a type of respect. I will not randomly rank you first place, that's disrespect, that's toying you with clever words." A woman takes a picture of"Clouds", on display at an exhibition by Argentina artist Leandro Erlich entitled"The Confines of the Great Void" at the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing on July 23, 2019. The OCAT Art museum in Shanghai is under scrutiny after an exhibit ranking women from most to least attractive was displayed.