The human-animal relationship explored on canvas and the silver screen

The video installation was filmed at the Gagosian Gallery in New York. The artist arranged to have a four-year-old Indian elephant named Minnie brought in to perform a series of tricks on the command of her off-screen trainer. For viewers, it is an opportunity to see the animal from a rare, intimate perspective.

The painting portrays Marc's Siberian shepherd "Russi." The dog is lying on the ground just like Minnie in the previous artwork, but in contrast to the elephant, it seems to be in complete harmony with its environment. Marc was very interested in philosophy and theology and perceived animals as beings closer to God than humans.

Depicting a woman in a sexual act with an animal-like being, "Vampire" is probably the most famous of the series of works Beckmann created in the years before his death in 1950. The painting deals with the animalistic core of sexuality. The motif of seduction and rape resurfaces throughout the history of art.

The giant ape-like monster called King Kong is one of the most favorite figures of pop culture. The original movie from 1933 tells the tragic story of horror and love between King Kong and the blonde beauty Ann Dorrow. King Kong embodies the tension between wild nature and civilization, between man and beast.

In a human-like, cultivated manner, the female ape eats her strawberries from a porcelain plate amidst straw and wooden boards. The scene was depicted by Dutch court painter Tethart Haag. This specific orangutan lived in the city of The Hague, in the private zoo of Dutch Prince William V of Orange-Nassau.

The rounded body, the ears, and the complex anatomy of the wings — all of it is vividly captured in Dürer's contemplation of the bat. The animal, with its black wings and pointed teeth, was regarded as sinister and dangerous for a long time, but with the usage of watercolor, Dürer deliberately averts such an atmosphere and presents the bat as an object of scientific research.

The "Bat Bot" is a sophisticated drone developed by a research team at the California Institute of Technology. The wings of this artificial animal are covered by very thin and extremely flexible silicone membranes, which makes it possible to mimic the dynamic flying maneuvers of a genuine bat. For a long time, the physics of the bat's flight were a a scientific mystery.