Koen Vanmechelen: Dissolving Boundaries Between Species in Venice

A Sculptural Meditation on Interdependence

Koen Vanmechelen has spent decades probing the porous borders between disciplines, cultures and species. His latest undertaking, We Thought We Were Alone, now installed at Palazzo Rota Ivancich in Venice until 22 November, sharpens that inquiry into a pointed critique of human exceptionalism. Curated by James Putnam, the exhibition marks the Belgian artist's first solo sculpture presentation in the city and brings together more than forty new works that interrogate what it means to share a planet with countless other living beings.

The title itself operates on several registers. Vanmechelen describes a civilisation that has long positioned itself at the centre of the cosmos, neglecting the trees, grasses, birds and animals that surround it.

"We started to use but also to abuse them, and went too far," he reflects. In an era dominated by concrete and extraction, he sees a regression to something almost prehistoric — a hardening that breeds aggression. The antidote, he suggests, lies in recognising coexistence: "If you love yourself, you have to love the other."

Mythology as Living Material

Venice provides a charged backdrop for this body of work, and Vanmechelen deliberately draws on Greek and Roman traditions to anchor his sculptures in the city's classical inheritance. Medusa proves a particularly fertile figure: snakes yield poison capable of killing, yet in controlled doses the same substance can serve as a cure. Evolutionarily, reptiles gave rise to birds; today, the majority of flu vaccines are cultivated using chicken eggs. These slippages between threat and remedy, animal and human, run throughout the exhibition.

In Will We Ever Exist, a polished egg-shaped mirror reflects not human faces but iguana heads. The Three Graces — classical emblems of beauty — are recast through a zoological lens.

"But it's still beautiful, because it's a living creature," Vanmechelen insists, pressing viewers to reconsider where they locate aesthetic and moral value.

Ethics of Taxidermy and Conservation

The artist is forthright about his use of taxidermied animals. He has never killed a creature for his practice. Instead, foundations and natural parks contact him when animals die, directing proceeds from any sale back into species protection. His own sanctuary, Labiomista near Ghent, houses tapirs and other at-risk animals; those that die naturally on the site may enter his studio. The compound also keeps chickens, camels and llamas — the latter the subject of an ongoing research project into their unusual immune systems, which hold potential for treatments targeting coronavirus and cancer.

"For me, animals are like a library," he says. "Without testing on them we can learn a lot, such as insights into genetics."

Science, Crossbreeding and Cosmopolitan Fossil

Collaboration with scientists — geneticists, quantum physicists, social researchers — is central to Vanmechelen's methodology. His long-running chicken crossbreeding programme demonstrated that increased genetic diversity correlates with stronger immunity and fertility, reinforcing his conviction that hybridity is essential to survival. A recent bronze work, Cosmopolitan Fossil, was unveiled at the Belgian embassy in Beijing, where he notes that environmental concerns and animal rights have gained considerable traction since his first Chinese exhibitions in the 1990s.

Yet he remains clear-eyed about global realities. With roughly a third of the world embroiled in conflict, he views art as a vital instrument for diagnosis and testimony.

"Art has a knowledge that can be spread," he argues. "That is the most beautiful present you can give as an artist."

We Thought We Were Alone runs at Palazzo Rota Ivancich, Venice, until 22 November.