Institute of Sexology - reviews of 'bold' sex science show

What you need to know

A new exhibition about the study of sex, The Institute of Sexology, has opened at the Wellcome Collection, London. The show documents the variety of research, methods and collections by sexologists and how they have shaped changing attitudes towards sexual behaviour and identity.

It features over 200 objects including art, erotica, film, photography, medical artefacts, sexual aids and rare archival material such as Alfred Kinsey's questionnaires about sexual habits. Runs until 20 September 2015.

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What the critics like

Wellcome's "fascinating" exhibition begins with a Greco-Roman phallic bronze wind chime, and ends with the wake-up call of the Aids pandemic, says Suzi Gordon in The Times. It's "a remarkable reminder of the way in which we have managed to mystify our relationship with our own bodies".

"The show's essentially a bold invitation to talk about - and indeed look at - sex," says Ben Luke in the Evening Standard. Many of the exhibits are funny, a lot of them are eye-popping, and some of them are genuinely shocking, but they all add up to a rich exploration of this most complex and ubiquitous, yet private, of subjects.

The collection has been designed with the science of sex in mind, but "clinical does not mean boring", says Fern Riddell in the Times Higher Education Supplement. From the moment you step into the gallery, you are made acutely aware that those who have tried to unlock the mysteries of sex and sexuality have always had to take huge social and personal risks.

What they don't like

Those expecting a display of fetish objects, kinky clothing or sex aids down the ages "will be deeply disappointed", as the bulk of the show is dedicated to the doctors, psychologists and scientists studying sexual behaviour, says Sarah Kent on the Arts Desk. But the exhibition format doesn't do justice to the work of these experts, so you have to be content with snippets of information that might prompt you to do some further research.