MORAN KLIGER

Primates 2017

 

The Exhibition includes previous works alongside new works and a site- specific installation. "Primates" combines a set of drawings together with natural pieces of wood covered in moss. The contrast between the meticulous work put in the drawings and the natural random growth of the moss, emphasizes conflicts and tensions such as  between the natural or wild, and the calculated or domesticated, that I regularly deal with in my art.

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The moss represents neglect or decomposition, but at the same time it is alive and ever evolving. Bringing it in to the gallery space expropriates the wild element and brings it into a cultured, controlled environment. Yet, at the same time, this invasion creates a possible takeover of the wild over the domesticated space.

 

The wood and moss also correspond with the drawings depicting various hybrids of apes, creating a world that is seemingly familiar but extremely strange. It is still unclear who or what the apes are - whether they are a previous stage in human evolution or, more precisely, the next stage; What is their natural habitat; what do they feel or think? They defy all definition, yet they create a sense of familiarity and compassion through their all-too-human expressions, hand gestures, and sitting postures. This brings to mind Freud's concept of the "uncanny," as these apes create a sense of anxiety or unease where something strange appears in a familiar context, a moment of alienation that is very fundamental because it touches the very core of our being.

 

The exhibition is on display at the OpenArt Biennale, Örebro, Sweden, curated by Lars Jonsson.​​​​​