Zoumboulakis Gallery is happy to present the new group exhibition “Animal Tales” that
opens on Saturday 17 December. The exhibition “Animal Tales” rethinks the representation
and symbolism of animals through references to the western art history, as well as human’s
relationship with the non-human animal in the present day.
Drawn by literature, myths, folklore traditions and personal stories, the participating artists
responded to the visual presentation of animals, mainly in the entertainment industry, and
the symbiosis of the human with the non-human. “Animal Tales” derives from the tradition of
allegorical writing, is a terminology that has become prevalent to describe (usually children’s)
fairy tales and stories featuring animals that have adopted anthropomorphic characteristics
and ways of life. With a humorous attitude and a mocking gaze, the exhibition borrows this
terminology attempting to turn this anthropocentric, entertaining gaze on the social
dimensions of the diptych of humanity – animality. In an attempt to propose the complexities
of the human relationship with both nature and the animal kingdom. Embracing critical and
philosophical references of Western philosophers, the exhibition evolves through seven
themes which juxtaposed and complement each other: from the intimacy and companionship
of pets, to the distancing of man from animals when they are found in the natural
environment, due to the dissociation of animals from their natural habitat. Animal stories,
survival instincts, the food chain, colonialism and fairy tales blend in a spectrum of
hybridization, the blurring of the boundaries of the human and the non-human, to post-human.
