These Ain't Your Grandma's Porcelain Dog Statues

In Oporto, Portugal, one art gallery is going to the dogs. Circus Network, a Porto-based cultural organization and gallery space, recently commissioned a cohort of Portuguese artists to reimagine kitschy porcelain pups, a sculptural element commonly found in the living rooms of little old ladies. For the group show Who Let The Dogs Out? the artists were tasked with infusing life-sized ceramic canines with their individual style, modernizing and reinventing an inherently surreal example of home decor.

The participating artists are Ana Seixas, André da Loba, Andy Calabozo, Caver, Daniel Eime, Elleonor, Joana Estrela, MaisMenos, Mots, and Oker + Contra. Installed on plywood bases along a corridor, the porcelain pooches sit at attention, seemingly content to be ogled, like perfectly-behaved show dogs. Their embellishments range from colorful pastoral scenes to naturalistic, dalmatian-like spots. Abstract blue and blush illustrations covering a Doberman’s flank resemble bone and sinew. A lanky hound glazed in white is nearly unmodified, save for a formidable muzzle evoking BDSM. An animal femur at its feet reads, “Bad to the Bone.”

Check out all of the creative canine sculptures in Who Let The Dogs Out? below:

Follow Circus Network on Instagram for more pictures of porcelain pups.

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