Fleshing it out: How meat has been represented in art across the ages
Meat has played a role in cultural life and artistic expression for millennia. Yet our complex cultural relationship with flesh has remained unexplored in the museum context — until now.
Death and the Girl by Hans Schwarz
A young woman in the grips of death turns away from it. Her gaze and hands, clasped in prayer illustrate her disgust for her own transience, which is represented by the corpse. By demonstrating that death is not appeased by youth nor beauty, this dramatic work of art implores its viewer to lead a more conscientious life.
Muscle Man by Jean-Antoine Houdon
In this sculpture from the late 18th century, a naked man stands atop a pedestal. His bare body, representing the ideal human form, is gilded in bronze. The connection between a scientific desire for knowledge of the body and corporeal aesthetics is explored in the "Meat" exhibition in Berlin that ultimately "reveals the omnipresent conflict between life and death in human culture."
VB55 by Vanessa Beecroft
In April 2005 at Berlin's New National Gallery, 100 women of various ages wore only see-through tights for three hours while they watched the crowd. Italian artist Beecroft asked her subjects not to smile or to communicate with anyone, and to pretend they were dressed as they flaunted their flesh. The carnal lust for the body was a central theme in the performance.
Reich meat coupons, 1915
As part of the British navy blockade of Germany during World War I, meat was rationed from 1915 and could only be acquired using "Reich meat coupons." The card is displayed at the "Meat" exhibition to remind visitors that meat was once a luxury item in Germany, with citizens allowed only 12 percent of the meat they used to consume before the start of the Great War.
Xoloitzcuintli: Mexican hairless dog
The Xoloitzcuintli dog, which is native to pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, was fattened by the Aztecs to supply meat that was considered tasty. The pot-bellied dogs are commonly represented in western Mexican ceramic art as seen above. Though the animals were not a major food source for the Aztecs, the figure reminds us of the fine line between food and companions in human culture.
Piggy bank by Hedwig Bollhagen
Pigs have long been domesticated for their flesh and remain a major meat source in Europe. Considered a sign of fertility in many countries, however, pigs have divergent cultural significance around the world. In Europe, the relationship with the pig is particularly ambivalent: it can be a lucky pig, a piggy bank, but also a symbol of sin and greed.
The Last Supper by Adam Zegadlo
Jesus was the last necessary sacrifice for the early Christians, for by his death all the sins of humanity could be overcome. A symbolic act of anthropophagy, or the eating of human flesh, allows all believers to share in the "body of Christ." As the Eucharist ritual spells out: "This is my blood, this is my body." With these words, flesh became a central symbol of the Christian church.