Luipaard [Leopard]
1991
Installation, 150 x 146 x 186 cm.
Materials: cardboard, showcase, leopard skin, wood
Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. BK005860).
In a showcase is a leopard skin with its mouth open, in the mouth is a cardboard gnome (Patrick Van Caeckenbergh himself). Patrick Van Caeckenbergh critically analyses our culture, usually from the underdog’s point of view. He typically uses his self-portrait, the cut-out Van Caeckenbergfiguurtje (Van Caeckenberg figure), to accentuate his smallness. Luipaard (Leopard) is part of a study of animal instinct, which is disastrously affected when an animal’s natural environment is taken away or manipulated.