Riva Project is delighted to present ANIMALS, a group show bringing together works by Paul McCarthy, Ardmore Ceramics, Oliver Clegg, Raphaël De Villers, Roe Ethridge, Roni Horn, Jim Lambie, Robert Longo, Jonathan Meese and Richard Jackson.
ANIMALS looks to reflect on the position and representation of the Animal, particularly in the field of contemporary sculpture. Assembling diverse forms, various techniques and mediums, the exhibition suggests a contemporary bestiary, to present the relationship with the animal world. Worshiped, sacred, sacrificed or naturalised, the figure of the animal poses questions about our view of the world. Whether represented accurately or fantastically, the animal has always been a very real concern throughout the history of art. This varied presentation can be seen – according to personal interpretation – as a hunting chart or an animal gallery. On the border between dream, fascination and fantasy, the artworks shown in the exhibition evoke our cohabitation with animals, whose world possesses its own rules but which may yet reveal our special bond with the 'significant otherness'* that is the Animal.
* Term taken from Donna Harraway's The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness (Prickly Paradigm Press, 2003).