Schaumbad – Freies Atelierhaus Graz
All Monsters Are Human: The Grotesque Within Us

All monsters are human. These words are more than a dramatic saying. They remind us of something humanity has always known but rarely dares to say out loud: Monsters are not outside us; they live within us. From ancient myths of sacrifice and violence to the suffering body of Christ, from Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson (1632) to Pablo Picasso’s Guernica (1937), art has always looked where we prefer not to. It gives form to fear, cruelty, pain, madness, and death—not to shock, but to bear witness.

Through demons, apparitions, distorted bodies, inner beasts, and grotesque worlds, the artists in this exhibition explore the dark side of the human condition. Their works do not show monsters as fantastic creatures but as mirrors—of war, anxiety, violence, uncertainty, desire, guilt, and survival. In a time such as ours, such art is necessary. Because when horror is named and shared, it loses part of its power. This is not a provocation; it means catharsis, understanding, and, finally, hope. The present may be grotesque, but the future still belongs to hope.