“We’re close to the breaking point” and “it’s important for us to shake people’s conscience, it’s at the heart of our mission” explains Robert Calcagno, the general director of Monaco’s Oceanographic Institute, “the overexploitation of resources, the pollution, and human beings themselves are threatening the marine world. And art is there to send messages”.
In order to get these messages through, the artist has chosen the monumental. Thus, the roof of the Monaco museum welcomes a gigantic shark, hanging like a hunting trophy, evoking vanity and hubris in having thought ourselves capable of mastering nature.
The artist, whose work is also featured in the Carmignac collection — and will be also presented on the Porquerolles island in a year — has explained that he prefers not to “theorize” his works, giving visitors a chance to respond freely to the shock they may cause in them.
Image via Musée océanographique de Monaco
The exhibition is on show until September 30.
