Catalogue We Are Animals

In “We Are Animals”, works by artists such as Maurizio Cattelan, Candida Höfer, Paul McCarthy, and David Shrigley show the relationship between human beings and animals. They reveal how we, as humans, see and try to understand ourselves better through animals. Paired with sculptures of feathered polar bears, installations with wild wolves, monumental paintings of cuddly cats, and poignant photographs of zoos, this provocative selection of works has resulted in an exciting, must-see exhibition that offers food for thought.

People love to surround themselves with adorable, cuddly creatures. Colourful stuffed animals fill our toy shops, photographs and videos of cats are massively watched and shared on the internet, and many of us consider our own pet to be our favourite family member. The artists participating in ‘We Are Animals’ explore these mechanisms while simultaneously revealing the downsides. Martin Eder’s greatly enlarged, sugary paintings of internet cats almost transform the adorable into the monstrous. A video compilation by Cory Arcangel featuring cats parading across piano keys results in a cacophony of sound. And the installation by Maurizio Cattelan, with a rabbit hanging from its extremely long ears, makes us aware of the imbalance of power between humans and animals.