Animalism, bestiaries, taxidermy and the construction of a vocabulary in contemporary art

Abstract

The presence of the animal in art merges with the History itself, although, differently from other established themes, there is still no immediate recognition of the term animalism to cover all production with this peculiarity, which includes bestiaries and their updates with the use of taxidermized specimens. Works with animals appropriated by artists as things in general allow to follow the renewal of these beings’ poetic use. And the persistence of the artists who make the specimens frequent the art repertoire in an irreversible way forges a vocabulary in contemporary art