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The Genesis Facade Commission: Jeffrey Gibson, The Animal That Therefore I Am
12 Sep 2025 — 9 Jun 2026 at Metropolitan Museum of Art
· New York City
The Genesis Facade Commission presents The Animal That Therefore I Am, a major new work by artist Jeffrey Gibson. Known for his vibrant synthesis of Native American traditions, queer identity, and contemporary visual culture, Gibson brings his signature layering of pattern, text, and symbol to one of the building's most prominent architectural surfaces.
The title, borrowed and reframed from Jacques Derrida's philosophical essay on the human-animal relationship, becomes in Gibson's hands a declaration of presence, kinship, and self-determination. The work invites viewers to consider questions of belonging, embodiment, and the boundaries drawn — and redrawn — between the human and the non-human world.
This commission continues a tradition of engaging leading contemporary artists to respond to the architecture and public mission of the institution.
The title, borrowed and reframed from Jacques Derrida's philosophical essay on the human-animal relationship, becomes in Gibson's hands a declaration of presence, kinship, and self-determination. The work invites viewers to consider questions of belonging, embodiment, and the boundaries drawn — and redrawn — between the human and the non-human world.
This commission continues a tradition of engaging leading contemporary artists to respond to the architecture and public mission of the institution.
About the artist
Jeffrey Gibson
1972
Jeffrey A. Gibson is an American Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee painter and sculptor. He has lived and worked in Brooklyn, New York; Hudson, New York; and Germantown, New York.
About the artist →About the venue
Metropolitan Museum of Art
· New York City
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the fourth-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5,727,258 visitors in fiscal year 2025, it was the most-visited museum in…
