Jeannette Vogel
27. March 2025 - 27. July 2025
Jeannette Vogel has a passion for drawing animals. No other subject features more prominently in her work. In her characteristic, simplifying style, she draws a wide range of local animals as well as exotic species that she sees on trips to the zoo or circus. She uses colored pencils, felttip pens, and paper. Her only existing collage shows a rhinoceros.
Vogel usually places her creatures in the middle of the drawing. They stand for themselves and effortlessly fill the empty space with their presence. Some appear clumsy, while others are so voluminous that they extend to the edges of the paper. What species they belong to is often unclear and ultimately irrelevant. Where it seems important to the artist, she adds their names.
Individual expression outweighs the classifying gaze: the creatures appear curious, self-confident, caught, shy, sad, tired, and as bold as if they were getting ready to jump out of the picture and lead a life of their own. Humans remain insignificant compared to the animals, reduced to outlines and without personality.
Not much is known about Jeannette Vogel. The little information available comes from an accompanying text from an art exhibition at the EPI Clinic in Zurich. It says that she has “many original traits,” without any further explanation. Vogel has suffered from epilepsy since she was one year old and lives at the EPI Clinic in Zurich due to her illness. In 2019, the open art museum received a collection of over 188 drawings from the clinic as a donation.
