Animals & Us
13th May 2018
At a time when scientists warn that humans may be causing the sixth mass extinction on earth, how do we see and relate to other animals?
Focusing on contemporary and 20th century artists and including historical artworks and artefacts, Turner Contemporary’s Animals & Us exhibition explores our lives and encounters with animals, and how these have been reflected in art.
Animals painted in prehistoric caves were the first subjects of art, reflecting our closeness to them. The artworks in this exhibition explore both our closeness and distance to animals, from our relationships with our pets, to zoos and animals as food.
Artists are using animal symbolism and creating human-animal hybrids. They are staging animal encounters, investigating animal intelligence, and questioning the human-animal divide.
Animals & Us encompasses a wide range of media, from painting and sculpture to video and installation. Drawing on subjects from biology and evolution, to anthropology and technology, it asks questions about how we relate to or differentiate ourselves from other living beings.
The exhibition runs from 25 May to 30 September.
Image: Zoologischer Garten Paris II (detail), Candida Höfer, 1997 © Candida Höfer / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and DACS, London 2018.