The Nebraska-based Moving Gallery presents its photo exhibition, WILD – Animals in Contemporary Photography, curated by Matthias Harder and Maren Polte.
In an impressive showcase of 80 photographs, the exhibition features recent works by 17 artists from Germany, Italy, Belarus, Belgium, Greece, and the US, including Sofia Koukoulioti, Nadine Blanke, Thorsten Brinkmann, Franck Christen, Amin El Dib, Kai-Olaf Hesse, Martin Klimas, Andrei Liankevich, Carina Linge, Vera Mercer, Thilo Mokros, Marc Peschke, Romana Prinoth, Ria Patricia Röder, Alexandra Vogt, Marc Volk, and Sascha Weidner.
The photographs presented address the notion of “WILD” in various ways. We encounter animals in zoos and in the wild, in dioramas or at the taxidermist, stuffed, stripped of their fur, or kept at home as a (seemingly) comforting pet. Seventeen individual perspectives demonstrate how people identify with animals, collect them as trophies, or turn them into food. The artists’ approaches range from serious to playful, from dramatic to ironic, leading us to wonder just how wild these depicted animals really are.
After all, animals, like humans, are among the most popular motifs in contemporary art and photography. While in the history of western painting animals have been used (also in the form of furs) to indicate the social rank of the portrayed subject, today such familiarity with symbolic or underlying meaning has all but vanished. Still, the
photographs here reflect the full spectrum of man’s complex relationship to animals today: we see them domesticated, adored, slaughtered, hunted, protected, spoiled, abused, worshiped, and devoured. One still life shows how animals are transformed into food, while in another, the photographer camouflages his dog for a laugh.
The photographic exhibition WILD takes an ironic look at today’s preoccupation with our oldest companion and adversary. In an enthralling mix of fear and fascination, sentiment and horror, it reminds us that we are all just small bits in the great mosaic of nature, an integral part of the never-ending cycle of becoming and decaying, of eating or being eaten.
WILD – Animals in Contemporary Photography
July 14th – September 8th, 2012
The Moving Gallery
405 South 11th Street
Omaha, NE 68102, USA
