Marianna Simnett’s exhibition at Société, Berlin, features a provocative mix of film, painting, and sculpture that revels in grotesque, erotic, and fantastical transformations. Works like *Hyena and Swan in the Midst of Sexual Congress* (2019) and the films *Leda was a Swan* (2025) and *Blue Moon* (2022) reimagine classical myths and fairy tales through a feminist, body-horror lens, using AI-assisted visuals and stop-motion to explore themes of animality, abjection, and pleasure. The show includes taxidermy-inspired animations, BDSM-inflected live-action shorts, and sculptures that ensnare human figures in animal forms.
This review matters because it highlights Simnett’s distinctive voice in contemporary art, blending visceral shock with mythic subversion to challenge narratives of female repression and human exceptionalism. Her work, which draws comparisons to Angela Carter and David Cronenberg, pushes boundaries of taste and narrative coherence, positioning her as a significant figure in current feminist and surrealist art practices. The exhibition underscores a growing trend of artists using digital tools and bodily grotesquerie to critique power and desire.