Monday, October 6, 2008

something about this images is...



both beautiful and heartbreakingly sad.

Artist Mauruzio Cattelan is not normally an artist that I would be interested in but the below work was recently at the new museum and the above work is currently at the Sydney biennial.


and for some reason seeing this animal dead and helpless but seemingly so calm and at peace is astoundingly moving to me.
I prefer the top work but even the headless one still evokes a peacefulness in the posture of the body that is mesmerising and yet...
provokes horror and sadness as well.




Other work by the artist evokes the same sadness and helplessness but with humor and laughter toward the human experience.


Cattelan has a subtle sense of the paradoxes of transgression, the limits of tolerance...his work has provoked and challenged the limits of contemporary value systems through its use of irony and humor. He teases the art world without ever falling into the naive trap of thinking he can subvert a system of which he is part.

5 comments:

Müge Tekil said...

Are these really dead horses??? … If so, I say THIS IS NOT ART, this is HORRIBLE and INACCEPTABLE! Animals are not “objects”, even when they are dead. I believe human beings must respect animals as they respect themselves.

Unknown said...

i like......

Anonymous said...

wow! very strong- don't like the imagery of the horse...
but the pope that is pretty good!(they are fantastic and love the art you bring here joetta i really do-much needed!)

Joetta M. said...

muge- i completely agree and do not condone the use of animals in this way at all...(i am a vegetarian and a major supporter of animal rights) but in seeing this work, as it is already made, I could not help but have a very real and powerful response to the work... and I feel that most likely that is from the very fact that it is so disturbing.

Joetta M. said...

nadia- glad you enjoy the work I highlight...I enjoy finding it to share:)