Art award nomination Human: where are you?

Statement by the artist:

"THE FABLE IS OVER" wants to be a visual stimulus for the role of humans on this earth and to encourage reflection on the enormous challenges our species has to face.

The tower position of the animals in the oil painting is reminiscent of a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, but the fairy tale seems to be over. And now there is still a pandemic hanging over it all. The picture tells of an anthropocentric view and of the discrepancy between idealization and reality.

On the one hand the desire for healthy food, animal welfare, no form of slavery, space to develop, pure drinking water, clean and transparent sea water, generous fish stocks and a long and healthy life free from disease and war.

On the other hand, we are faced with impossible conditions in the meat factories, intensive animal husbandry, population density, environmental pollution, radioactive waste, divided societies and new diseases like Covid 19.

Human: where are you?

In my picture, humans are hidden in the outlines of animals. Originally there was actually a beautiful dancing person on the canvas, which I painted over with these ugly animals made of cold and artificial oil paints.

Even if humans are not visible, homo sapiens are there and influence the world like no other species. This is part of the paradox: there is not a person in the picture, but everything revolves around him. Just like in fairy tales, some things remain hidden forever and as Goethe said:

"Friend, because you have them (your eyes) open, you think you see."

Ilenia Lanari