Solo show
Closing soon
The Genesis Facade Commission: Jeffrey Gibson, The Animal That Therefore I Am
12 Sep 2025 — 9 Jun 2026 at The Met Fifth Avenue
· New York
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
The Met Fifth Avenue
· New York
The Met Fifth Avenue is the primary museum building for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The building is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
