Julia Scher Gretel, 2022

The majestic greyhounds are considered to be one of the oldest dog breeds in the world domesticated by man. Their hunting behavior, based on their enormous speed, eyesight and intelligence, made them highly valued and sought-after animals in early societies of antiquity. Throughout the centuries, depictions of greyhounds often show the slender figure with its elongated back and taut neck on the move and in service to humans.

Gretel (2022) is part of a series of marble sculptures depicting greyhound dogs in an unusually relaxed poses, granting the dogs a break from their tireless movement. Julia Scher, who since the 1980s has been intensively exploring forms of the exercise and impact of human control, has already addressed the motif of dogs in this context in earlier works. Together with Gretel, Gretchen, Gert and Greta, Gabriele is the hypothetical first inhabitant of the Planet Greyhound, an exoplanet for which Julia Scher in collaboration with the Kunsthalle Gießen, have assumed sponsorship over a period of five years.