EGO

ANIMALIA DISSIMULATA

mini feature

August 1st - 31st, 2025

Opening Reception: First Friday, August 1st • 5-9pm​

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Arch Enemy Arts presents ANIMALIA DISSIMULATA, a mini-feature of five new works by Seattle-based artist Ego Shoreclay (b. 1972), who goes by his first name, Ego. With the cryptic dehumanization of a quiet Orwellian nightmare, Ego’s paintings depict anthropomorphized creatures—a pig, a crow, a dog, a rabbit—splayed and contorted, hovering above endless backdrops that allude to some distant, barren landscape. Both intimate and alienating, these fragile artifacts hang mid-air, their uncanny gestures reminding us of our own tenuous position at the top of the proverbial food chain. 

 

“ANIMALIA DISSIMULATA, roughly translated from Latin, means ‘disguised animals,’ an analogy to the animal heads or masks in my paintings, which represent various character traits of human beings. Loosely inspired by George Orwell’s Animal Farm and, by extension, Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals’ album, these works act as a reminder that we are also animals, though as humans we wish to separate ourselves from, deny or of which we are altogether unaware.” - Ego

 

Ego’s insanely smooth paintings have this amazing lifelike quality despite their stylized and otherworldly forms. Impeccable tonal modeling in cool, muted grays and industrial blues lend to the work’s dark, post-apocalyptic mood, while layers of delicate mottled textures, fine lines and smears of color add a subtle and refined naturalism that’s strange and wonderful to behold.

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ANIMALIA DISSIMULATA will be on view from August 1st - 31st, 2025
Sold works will begin to ship the week starting September 7th, unless other rush shipping arrangements have been made. 

Items marked with a red dot have already been sold.

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