Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen presents his first solo sculptural exhibition in Venice, We Thought We Were Alone, at Palazzo Rota Ivancich, coinciding with the 61st Venice Biennale (9 May–22 November 2026). Curated by UK independent curator James Putnam, the show features 40 new works spanning bronze, marble, glass, photography, and video, exploring the relationship between living organisms and the inorganic environment.

Visitors will move through the Palazzo’s three floors, encountering spaces where forms shift, merge, and transform, reflecting Vanmechelen’s themes of crossbreeding, hybridity, and identity and his vision of a Cosmopolitan Renaissance. Classical statuary is reinterpreted alongside animal forms, emphasizing the interconnectedness of humans and nature.

The exhibition includes a dedicated room on the Wild Gene Festival, a collaboration with Senegalese musician Youssou N’Dour, presenting videos from the 2025 LABIOMISTA performance.

Vanmechelen’s work challenges boundaries between art, science, and community, positioning creativity as a force for social and ecological transformation, aligned with the Biennale theme In Minor Keys.