Visitors to a new exhibition at The University of Queensland Art Museum will come face-to-face with animals and be prompted to consider how we relate with them.
The exhibition ANIMAL/HUMAN presents a selection of works by contemporary Australian artists that explore our complex, contradictory and sometimes contentious relationship with other species.
“Contemporary Australian artists are producing an astonishing array of artworks that not only depict animals, but also focus on the animal-human relationship in all its positive and negative permutations,” exhibition curator Michele Helmrich said.
“The work in ANIMAL/HUMAN variously touches on the environmental, psychological, ethical, philosophical, scientific and cultural parameters of this relationship.”
A work by Patricia Piccinini depicts life-size man – an office worker perhaps – kneeling and delicately holding a dead deep-sea blobfish, while a large-scale painting by Michael Zavros portrays a thoroughbred horse, over whose back is draped the skin of a panther, each a trophy of sorts.
Both the blobfish and the panther are endangered: the blobfish is caught as “bycatch” by trawler fishermen and the panther is killed by poachers, for trophy hunting or to protect livestock.
Janet Laurence projects layers of camera-trap images, sourced from a Fauna and Flora International camera trap in Aceh, Indonesia, which documents an extraordinary variety of wildlife, while two major works by Fiona Hall bring a focus to the environmental impact of fishing practices in the Kermadec Trench, north of New Zealand, and the extinction of New Zealand bird species.
An immersive video installation by Sonia Leber and David Chesworth –The Way You Move Me 2011 – showcases in cinematic and acoustic detail the herding behaviour of cattle and sheep, in footage shot north of Perth.
A primate in a space suite appears in a haunting image drawn large on a tarpaulin by Laith McGregor, a reference to sci-fi films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes, and a reminder of those animals that were launched into space.
A number of works in the exhibition continue traditions whereby animals are depicted in symbolic or totemic form, are endowed with human qualities, or stand in for the self, including works by Torres Strait Islander artists Dennis Nona and Alick Tipoti.
Works range from playful to provocative, while others refuse easy categorisation.
ANIMAL/HUMAN includes works by artists such as Lisa Adams, Adam Cullen, Marian Drew, Julie Fragar, Peter Graham, Fiona Hall, Pat Hoffie, Gilbert Jack, Sam Jinks, Janet Laurence, Sam Leach, Sonia Leber and David Chesworth, Laith McGregor, Noel McKenna, Tim McMonagle,Danie Mellor, Dennis Nona, Patricia Piccinini, Ryan Presley, Alick Tipoti, Jenny Watson and Michael Zavros.
Download high-resolution images from the exhibition here.
The exhibition continues until 22 July.
The UQ Art Museum is open daily from 10am – 4pm.
PUBLIC PROGRAM
‘Talking about Animals’ seminar
Friday 11 May, 4.30pm to 6.30pm
Venue: Sir Llew Edwards Auditorium, University Drive, St Lucia Campus
This free event explores how artists represent and question our relationship with animals in contemporary visual art and screen culture
Speakers: Keynote Speaker Professor Barbara Creed (University of Melbourne); Dr Morgan Richards (UQ), and artists Professor Pat Hoffie and Janet Laurence, Chaired by Professor Gay Hawkins (UQ)
Further information at www.artmuseum.uq.edu.au
CURATOR’S TALK
Join exhibition curator Michele Helmrich for a guided tour of the exhibition (free event)
Saturday 12 May, 11.00am
The University of Queensland Art Museum
University Drive, St Lucia
07 3365 3046
www.artmuseum.uq.edu.au
