Since 2000 Koen Vanmechelen is mainly engaged in his gigantic chicken breeding Cosmopolitan Chicken Project. The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project is a worldwide breeding project to which the crossbreeding of different national chicken races is central and crucial. The crossbreeding as the metaphorical quintessence of the dynamic, fertile and creative life and of the peaceful living together of different species and races.

In the millennium year 2000, Vanmechelen presented his first ‘crossing’, the Mechelse Bresse, a ‘crossing’ born out of the Belgian species Mechelse Koekoek and the French Poulet de Bresse. At this moment the 20th species, the Mechelse Wyandotte, is a fact. To date, twenty countries have been included in the CCP.

From the project spring great sculptures, chicken portraits, drawings, installations, stuffed chickens, story boards, videos etc.

In Belgium Koen Vanmechelen already exhibited in several museums and other locations such as Z33 (2004), Watou (2008) and Museum M (2010). He had a large solo show in Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen in 2008. Further he had solo and group shows in a.o. Pushkin Museum Moskou (2006), National Gallery London and Museum Kunst Palast Düsseldorf (2007), Victoria and Albert Museum London (2008), MAD Museum NY (2012), Macro Rome, Belvedere Vienna and ZKM Karlsruhe in 2015. Beside the Venice Biennial (several times) and Documenta 13 Kassel (2012) there were also works of him shown at the World Expo Shanghai in 2010, the Triennial Guangzhou (2011) and Manifesta 9 (2012).

Koen Vanmechelen exhibited solo at Deweer Gallery in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009.

Click here for the exhibition file of the show.