Animal Dignity and an Ethics of Sight: Photography by Isa Leshko and Frank Noelker
Tuesday September 23, 2014 - Friday October 10, 2014Curated by Lori Gruen, Professor of Philosophy, Environmental Studies, and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, South Gallery
283 Washington Terrace, Middletown, Connecticut
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from Noon to 5pm
FREE!
In contrast to the viral images of “cute” animals that fill digital spaces, photographers Isa Leshko and Frank Noelker sensitively portray captive animals in an evocative exhibition that asks viewers to reflect on our complicated relationships with other animals. Ms. Leshko’s Elderly Animals presents unusual sights—the sometimes fierce, sometimes gentle dignity of aging farm animals who are rarely seen at the end of their natural lifespans. For his work Captive Beauty, Mr. Noelker spent nearly a decade visiting over 300 zoos all over the world and photographically captured the beauty, the dignity, the loneliness, and the absurdity of the animals we keep in artificial environments.