Carnivores
1992-1997
Gelatin silver print
56 x 38 cm (22 1/16 x 14 15/16 in.)
Two feline skins hanging in a museum window ironically respond to the “carnivorous” card accompanying them. This picture taken at the Museum of Natural History in New York belongs to a series by Zoe Leonard, who questioned the display policies of museums as early as 1979.
The gaze and monstration are key issues in her work. Her photographs, including Carnivores, question the contingency of museums’ presentation and classification processes. This work is rooted in a broader reflection on the nature of photography, the viewer's perception of images and the artist and museum’s subjectivity.
Carnivores was first presented by the Pinault Collection at the 2015 "Slip of the Tongue" exhibition at the Punta della Dogana in Venice.
The gaze and monstration are key issues in her work. Her photographs, including Carnivores, question the contingency of museums’ presentation and classification processes. This work is rooted in a broader reflection on the nature of photography, the viewer's perception of images and the artist and museum’s subjectivity.
Carnivores was first presented by the Pinault Collection at the 2015 "Slip of the Tongue" exhibition at the Punta della Dogana in Venice.
Exhibitions
© Zoe Leonard.
Courtesy the artist, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne, Hauser & Wirth, and Murray Guy, New York
