From a different perspective, each work analyses the various aspects of our absurd and existential essence and, in one way or another, reminds us that we are “animals” and “just animals”. It is a criticism of the excess of reason that saturates this artificial world. A question about our way of understanding life, of giving it meaning (either borrowed or invented) and of taking sides in the game of being and existing.

Unlike humans, other animals live for the here and now in balance with nature, in accordance with the old slogan Carpe Diem. They do not worry about success and they do not question the economy. They are the economy itself and sometimes they are successful and other times they are not. It is a simple matter of life and death.

Elías Canetti said that “if we look closely at an animal, we get the feeling that inside there is a hidden man making fun of us.” I wonder what they could be laughing about… They surely laugh about how naïve we are, how sure we are about our power over the universe and, of course, about our attachment to reason and sense.

In short, animals are a mirror in which our most mundane condition is inevitably reflected. Animals do not have gods, or banks, or post-holiday depression. It is also true that they do not have schools, social security, and I don’t think that any animal has ever wondered what art is. As such, it is important to stop for a moment and study how we are similar to them and how we are not, and analyse if we are really doing it properly and if it is true that we are so intelligent. As George Orwell said in his book ‘Animal Farm’: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

The catalogue that accompanies the exhibition contains texts by Francisco Javier San Martín ‘Grandes documentales’ (Great documentaries) and by the artist himself ‘Just Animals’.