#catcontent: Eckart Hahn, Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beys u.a. Kunstpalais Erlangen

8th April until 21th June 2015

Animals populate the internet: movies and pictures of grumpy looking cats or sneezing pandas are clicked on, viewed, commented and shared by the millions on social media. In visual arts animals are also everywhere. Drawn, painted photographed, recorded in stone and marble or cast in bronze, they are a recurring motif.

Starting from the central works of the municipal collection Erlangen, the exhibition #catcontent deals with the various forms of the beast becoming an image. From the representation of the animal as a metaphor and symbol to newer perspectives in dealing with digital imagery, the representation of the different aspects of the complex human-animal relationship are constantly being explored and integrated into art.

The focus of the exhibition is on works by artists who stimulate a change of perspective. Here it is not only the man who looks at the animal, but also the animal looks to the human. Animals are more than just metaphors or objects; instead they can be seen as actors who meet in worldly situations.

In cooperation with the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg and the 19th International Puppet Theatre Festival, a comprehensive show is brought to you. Accompanied performances, films, panel discussions, lectures, workshops, theatre performances, tours, and a Poetry Slam all takes place at #catcontent. In the centre is an interdisciplinary conference where the concept of animal agency is discussed, asking about the power of animal acts. A comprehensive catalogue of the participating artists and the contributions of academic support program will be presented and published.

Artists: Kader Attia (FR), Georg Baselitz (DE), Thomas Bayrle (DE), Joseph Beuys (DE), Björn Braun (DE), Annika Eriksson (SE), Erro (IS), Eckart Hahn (DE), Henrik Håkansson (SE), Keith Haring (US), Judith Hopf (DE), Jörg Immendorff (DE), Jürgen Klauke (DE), Eva Kot'átková (CZ), Agnes Meyer-Brandis (DE), Katja Novitskova (EE) Dennis Oppenheim (US), AR Penck (DE), Adriana Ramić (US), Kirstine Roepstorff (DK), Mathilde Rosier (FR), Dieter Roth (CH), Shimabuku (JP), Wolf Vostell (DE)