Cristin Tierney Gallery opens an Exhibition of New Paintings and Animations by Claudia Bitrán

Drawing from mediated images of people and animals sourced from the internet, Bitrán’s paintings and animations explore the intersection of pop culture and contemporary art. Featured in the exhibition is a watercolor animation of Gus the polar bear who lived in captivity at the Central Park Zoo from 1988-2013. In the video, he swims back and forth endlessly in his enclosure as a crowd watches, with people occasionally shouting and pounding on the glass. Gus famously became known as the “Neurotic Polar Bear” in the 1990s when his endless laps in the pool were discovered to be compulsive.