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Lot Essay
All Animals Are Equal (Lot 128) is a monumental work by Singaporean artist David Chan, not merely for its sheer size, but for the significance of its allusions to an art historical treasure and a literary masterpiece.
Often populating his works with animals or animal headed-figures, the animals in his works parody the tropes they serve in popular culture. In All Animals Are Equal, not only does David Chan borrow the title from a famous quote in the Orwellian classic Animal Farm, but he also works with a composition that is a little more than familiar. A melange of animals gather around a white dining table, a la Da Vinci's The Last Supper, placed in the middle of a vast landscape. The swirling gold and amber sky coupled with the fluorescent orange blades of grass set the scene in a world unlike the one we know. Chan has the table cropped from the right, obscuring the occupant at the end of the table.
After all, he has claimed all the food on the table for himself, leaving the animals with dumbfounded, blank stares. A human arm emerges from the right edge of the painting, and our fears become a reality - after all are we not animals, too?
Just as Da Vinci's The Last Supper illustrates the apostles' shock at the revelation of a traitor amongst them, so does All Animals Are Equal reflect the animals' perplexed expressions in the final hour, appalled at the human's lack of generosity. It is true then, as the saying goes, that "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others". After drawing them in and lowering their guards with the humorous composition in his trademark brand of cynical social realism, Chan leaves the viewer to ponder on their final place in this powerful and evocative image.
Often populating his works with animals or animal headed-figures, the animals in his works parody the tropes they serve in popular culture. In All Animals Are Equal, not only does David Chan borrow the title from a famous quote in the Orwellian classic Animal Farm, but he also works with a composition that is a little more than familiar. A melange of animals gather around a white dining table, a la Da Vinci's The Last Supper, placed in the middle of a vast landscape. The swirling gold and amber sky coupled with the fluorescent orange blades of grass set the scene in a world unlike the one we know. Chan has the table cropped from the right, obscuring the occupant at the end of the table.
After all, he has claimed all the food on the table for himself, leaving the animals with dumbfounded, blank stares. A human arm emerges from the right edge of the painting, and our fears become a reality - after all are we not animals, too?
Just as Da Vinci's The Last Supper illustrates the apostles' shock at the revelation of a traitor amongst them, so does All Animals Are Equal reflect the animals' perplexed expressions in the final hour, appalled at the human's lack of generosity. It is true then, as the saying goes, that "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others". After drawing them in and lowering their guards with the humorous composition in his trademark brand of cynical social realism, Chan leaves the viewer to ponder on their final place in this powerful and evocative image.