Hand against paw, skin against fur, mankind and her pet, an unbreakable bond. Our pets have become our lifelong companions – they can teach us about empathy, about how to show love and take responsibility.
For artists, our four-legged friends are often more than simply companions. Historically, pets have often been portrayed to represent symbols such as status, power, loyalty or love. Nowadays our pets are being documented diversely – from documentary photography and staged portraits to funny and crazy photographs on different social media platforms.
This exhibition shows works by 26 artists, that have all chosen to portray pets in different ways. Everything from Gerrard Gethings’ humorous and colourful portrait series Do You Look Like Your Cat?, where he’s explored similarities between cats and their owners; to the poetic images of Martin Usborne’s Where Hunting Dogs Rest, that portray abandoned hunting dogs in the Spanish landscape, in beautiful diptychs.
