ART CITIES: N.York-Dog Days of Summer

For more than 12,000 years the dog has lived with humans as a hunting companion, protector, object of scorn or adoration, and friend. The group exhibition “Dog Days of Summer”, centres on man’s best friend as a timeless subject in art history and includes more than sixty works exploring the many roles a pup might play in the life of an artist: muse, metaphor, and companion.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Timothy Taylor Gallery Archive

Artmaking is a famously solitary process. What would art of the last century have been without such faithful studio mates as William Wegman’s Weimaraners or Pablo Picasso’s dachshund Lump? Dogs have been a feature of visual culture since at least 8,000 years ago, when hunter-gatherers carved an image of leashed dogs into a sandstone cliff. A symbol of fidelity, protection, playfulness, and unconditional love, canines pop up in the paintings of Titian, Jan van Eyck, John Singer Sargent, and Gustave Courbet, among countless other masters. The exhibition “Dog Days of Summer” features “Yellow Lab” (2022), a stately seaside portrait in meticulous detail by Sean Landers, alongside works created specifically for the exhibition by Hilary Pecis, Jesse Mockrin, and Ann Craven. In Pecis’s “Mango” (2024), a smart, diminutive pup nestles into an array of pillows whose vibrant patterns seem to distort the perspective of an otherwise familiar domestic scene. Another lapdog appears in Mockrin’s graphite drawing Pearl (2024); here, the dramatic curl of a pug’s tail mirrors the Rococo embellishments of its owner’s gown. Elsewhere, Craven’s lush, painterly “Magic and Moonlight in Night Field” (2024), evokes the sinewy physicality and anthropomorphic nature of a French Bulldog. Across these works, artists explore the specific body language and intimacies that humans share with their canine companions. Wegman’s photograph Look (1989) pictures four of the artist’s famous pets sitting uniformly in chairs, perfectly rapt, their piercing amber eyes presumably meeting those of the artist. In Jonas Wood’s etching “Three Dogs” (2020), the titular crew appears with tongues wagging, each gazing lovingly at the viewer, while Louis Fratino’s work on paper “Man and Dog” (2018) suggests the similar ways in which humans and dogs find comfort and connection. Other works reflect the role of dogs in history and fantasy, consumerism and psychology. Karen Kilimnik’s seductive and shadowy painting “friends in the woods” (2010) references Old Master canine scenes, picturing a nocturnal gathering of dogs of various stock beside a steaming cauldron. Robert Gober’s 1976 photograph “Untitled” also features an assembly of breeds, zeroing in on three distinguished “eager eaters” in dog food branding. Peter Saul, with characteristic irony, plays on our expectations of our furry friends in the work on paper “Watchdog” (2011), depicting a dopey, deranged creature with a halo. And with the sculpture “Lucy” (2021), a Pop-inspired puzzle of a pup holding a flower, Alex Da Corte suggests dogs are more than they seem. With paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and photographs dating from 1915 to the present day and running the stylistic gamut, Dog Days of Summer offers up a collective portrait of our mutual evolution with our canine companions, in life and in art.

Participating Artists: Craigie Aitchison, Trisha Baga, Sophie Barber, Hanna Brody, Gaby Collins-Fernandez, Ann Craven, Scott Csoke, Anthony Cudahy, Alex Da Corte, Armen Eloyan, Camilla Engström, Julia Felsenthal, Louis Fratino, Robert Gober, Camille Henrot, Peter Hujar, Timothy Hull, Paul-Sebastian Japaz, Susumu Kamijo, Alex Katz, Karen Kilimnik, Craig Kucia, Sean Landers, Sophie Larrimore, Sahara Longe, Robert Mapplethorpe, Eddie Martinez, Jesse Mockrin, Matthew Morrocco, Grandma Moses, Rocío Navarro, Justin Liam O’Brien, Gordon Parks, Hilary Pecis, Pablo Picasso, Paula Rego, Robert Roest, Will Ryman, Peter Saul, Allison Schulnik, Dana Schutz, Kiki Smith, Billy Sullivan, David Surman, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, William Wegman, and Jonas Wood.

Photo: Hilary Pecis, Mango (detail) 2024, Acrylic on linen, 54 x 44 in. (137.2 x 111.8 cm), © the artist, Courtesy Timothy Taylor Gallery

Info: Timothy Taylor Gallery, 74 Leonard Street, New York, NY, USA, Duration: 20/6-23/8/2024, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-18:00, www.timothytaylor.com/