Wellin Museum: “Menagerie: Animals in Art”
Wellin Museum: “Menagerie: Animals in Art”
“Menagerie: Animals in Art” showcases hundreds of artworks featuring animals from ancient times to today, exploring how people have used animal images in art for various reasons, including symbolism, culture, ceremonies, and decoration. It includes images of insects, fish, birds, and mammals, highlighting their roles in power, virtue, decoration, and myth.
The exhibition also draws attention to the scope of the Wellin Museum’s collection. Selections include objects from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; Mesoamerican and Andean artifacts; artworks from Medieval, Renaissance, and 19th century Europe; prints, drawings, and textiles from East Asia; Persian illuminated manuscripts; and global modern and contemporary art.
Menagerie encourages viewers to consider the scope, meaning, and value of their interactions with animals, and, most importantly, to recognize their implicit interdependence. While the exhibition primarily focuses on nonhuman creatures, every object on view is the result of human creative effort and the depiction of each animal is filtered through its maker’s consciousness.
The objects in Menagerie reveal the complex, and sometimes volatile, interconnection between animals and humans. Moreover, some of these artworks illustrate the considerable stress humans have placed on our shared ecosystem. In examining the enduring bond between people and animals, Menagerie not only provides an avenue for imagining a sustainable future, but one in which humans and the natural world might find balance.
Tuesday: 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Wednesday: 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Thursday: 11:00 AM - 05:00 AM
Friday: 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Saturday: 11:00 AM - 05:00 PM