BEING HUMAN

 

“The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection, that one is sometimes willing to commit sins for the sake of loyalty, that one does not push asceticism to the point where it makes friendly intercourse impossible, and that one is prepared in the end to be defeated and broken up by life, which is the inevitable price of fastening one's love upon other human individuals.”― George Orwell, In Front of Your Nose: 1945-1950.

 

Being Human explores, in art terms, what it means to be human in the 21st century.  Showing humane qualities like kindness, empathy and generosity reflects our hopes and fears about new forms of medical knowledge, and our changing relationships with ourselves, each other and the world.  But to be human is to be at the centre of our own universe, to experience life in all its colours and all its potential. This is what we want to celebrate with Being Human - the awe of being alive and the thrill of discovering what it means to be us, the greatest wonder in the world.

 

We are human because of our reason. Like other species, we do things, we act. But unlike them, we give reasons for our actions. And that, for the philosopher Kant, is essentially what it means to be human. “All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason.

 

Human experience for the realities of human existence including the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical characteristics of human life are evident in each of the artist’s works.  Emotive in literal sense, we can see the human figure take centre stage. Emotive in medium, we can feel the human touch of how the medium has been applied resulting in abstract dexterity.

 

Featured Artists Include: Ann Mechelinck, Annmarie Yasmineh, Duda, Fiona Cadwallader, Ilke Alkan, Jean Cormier, Katarzyna Kukuła & Sandra Bak-Shut Up Collective, Liam Andersen, Marie Ruprecht, Michael Elliot-Brown,  Michael May, Moses Emehinola, Pawel Pacholec, Rosemary Nagel, Salit Krac, Stephanie Guillen, Virginia Tozzi, Айгерим Бектаева- Aigerim Bektayeva.

 

Official Virtual Online Opening on Pepney Gallery’s Facebook & Instagram Live on 7th February 2021.  Exhibition continues at 

https://www.pepneygallery.com/BEING-HUMAN/

 

BEING HUMAN Catalogue view here.