ON ANIMALS
September 1 – November 12, 2023
Opening September 1, 6–9pm · Part of DC Open 2023
A group exhibition with Felipe Castelblanco, Nika Fontaine, Morgan Mandalay, Zoe Miller, Marco Montiel-Soto, Andreas Steinbrecher, Roberto Uribe, Julia Vergazova, and Nikolay Ulyanov.
On Animals, Part 1 considers animals in art: as bodies onto which human emotions are projected, as fields of political reflection, as figures through which we negotiate our relationship with the nonhuman, and as images produced at the limits of physical vision and human knowledge.
See more
A lioness is reported on the loose in Berlin, and the city comes to a standstill. Helicopters search for the dangerous animal. In the end, the lioness is revealed to be a wild boar: a misreading of images that exposes both our fascination with animals and our distance from them.
When Instagram’s algorithm does not know what to show the viewer, the feed fills with cat videos. Cats were already superstars in ancient Egypt and have become so again on YouTube. Alongside them are dogs—as ornaments, family members, workers, and historical companions with many changing functions.
Dolphins are sometimes described as the dogs of the ocean because of their sociability, intelligence, and apparent generosity. Pilot whales are, in fact, large dolphins that migrate through the Atlantic in search of food, diving hundreds of meters to hunt squid.
Cephalopods are among the most intelligent invertebrates. They are social beings and, even when alone, may form schools with fish. Knowledge of their complex lives changes the way we encounter them and the narratives we build around the nonhuman world.
Exhibition Views
