Animal Within - Creatures in (and outside)

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How artists from Hans Arp to Mike Kelley have employed animal motifs to diverse ends Within the visual arts, animals--as pets, in zoos or farms, or as stuffed animals--have evoked an array of thematic matter: sex, hunger and affection; family and gender relations; socialization and domestication; and the enduring impact of colonial history. Aided by numerous critical essays, The Animal Withinexplores the popular appeal of animals in art to interrogate structures of violence and domination. As a motif, the animal serves as a powerful starting point for arriving at a materialist understanding of art and life, and not merely in a figurative sense--bones, skins, hides and feathers prominently feature in these artworks. Artists include: Hans Arp, Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Mike Kelley, Maria Lassnig, Ulrike Müller, Bruce Nauman, Nam June Paik, Mel Ramos, Dieter Roth, Niki de Saint Phalle and Carolee Schneemann.