Dead Dogs Don't Die: Grief That Refuses to Heal

7 Perspectives: Dead Dogs Don´t Die, at Slug Leipzig and curated by Colette Patterson

We're taught grief has stages. That it follows a timeline. That healing means moving forward, letting go, finding closure.

"Dead Dogs Don't Die" at SLUG Leipzig calls that a lie.

Seven artists,Hanna Antonsson, Jan Baszak (whom we just saw at Vienna Contemporary), Yutaro Inagaki, Martin Maeller, Olivia Rode Hvass, Anna Soz, Juli Winterstein, gathered by curator Colette Patterson.

Leipzig exhibition about grief, dead dogs dont die , with hanna antonsson sculpture work, Yutaro Inagaki painting and olivia rode hvass wall tapestry — **Yutaro Inagaki** (painting), next to **Hanna Antonsson** and, on the right, **Olivia Rode Hvass**. Exhibition view from *Dead Dogs Don’t Die* at **Slug Leipzig**, curated by **Colette Patterson**. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

Hanna Antonsson for Dead Dogs Don´t Die , at Slug Leipzig and curated by Colette Patterson Taxidermy and car wheel — **Hanna Antonsson** for *Dead Dogs Don’t Die*, at **Slug Leipzig**, curated by **Colette Patterson**. *Taxidermy seagull wings, car tire, servo motors, microcontroller, magnet. Movement pattern inspired by a resting butterfly.* *Image: Moritz Richter.*

catapult friday dispatch - Exhibition recomendation Leipzig Dead Dogs Don´t Die Installation view curated by Colette Patterson — **Dead Dogs Don’t Die**, installation view at **Slug Leipzig**, curated by **Colette Patterson**. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

The Exhibition asks: What happens when grief doesn't resolve? When loss refuses linear narratives? When the dead don't stay buried but mutate, linger, entwine with everything you touch?

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This exhibition treats grief as an active, transformative force. Not something that happens to you, but something you do. Something that does you back.

What You'll See at SLUG Leipzig

SLUG is a new interdisciplinary art space in Leipzig's Eisenbahnstraße, founded by curator Colette Patterson.

The curatorial statement is clear: "Slime trails are holographic archives shimmering in the sun, sticky between your fingers and under your tongue."

That visceral language tells you everything. This isn't a white cube show about loss. It's about the physical, sticky, uncomfortable reality of grief that won't wash off.

**Martin Maeller**, *small tongues – Objet* (right), **Julie Winterschein**, designer. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

Anna Soz sculpture work wood, metal, drawing inside, curated by Colette Patterson — **Anna Soz**, *Openly Wounded*, 2025. Graphite on paper, found object, tin casting. For *Dead Dogs Don’t Die* at **Slug Leipzig**. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

Julie Winterschein: designer, 2025 3D milled silver poplar burl wood, shellac — **Julie Winterschein**, designer, 2025. 3D-milled silver poplar burl wood, shellac, printed PLA, mirror, coated steel pedestal. For *Dead Dogs Don’t Die* at **Slug Leipzig**. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

martin maeller object artwork like tongue — **Martin Maeller**, *small tongues*. For *Dead Dogs Don’t Die* at **Slug Leipzig**. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

Olivia rode hvass - catapult munchies art club friday dispatch — **Olivia Rode Hvass**. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

Seven artists working through personal and societal mythologies. Grief not as individual psychology but as collective narrative.

The exhibition resists what Patterson calls "linear narratives of loss and healing." Instead: lingering. Mutation. Entanglement of memory and desire.

Leipzig context matters here. A city built on transformation, East German memory, industrial decay repurposed into culture. SLUG sits in Eisenbahnstraße, a neighborhood that knows about things that refuse to die. The ghosts here have always been active participants.

**Jan Baszak**, detail from *General Ghost IV – Goat* (right), with **Yutaro Inagaki** (painting) and **Hanna Antonsson**. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

slug gallery for friday dispatch - exhibition review in Leipzig showcase this work by Jan Baszak called My General Ghost — **Jan Baszak**, detail from *General Ghost IV – Goat*. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

Photographer Moritz Richter documented the exhibition. Graphics by Paul Werner and Sören Sandbothe. Funded by Kulturamt Leipzig, public money supporting work that challenges public narratives about grief.

Why This Exhibition Matters Now

We're drowning in wellness culture that treats grief like a problem to solve. Five stages. Therapy apps. Mindfulness for mourning. The constant pressure to heal, move on, be okay.

But some losses don't resolve. Some dead refuse to stay dead. "Dead Dogs Don't Die" refuses to perform recovery. It shows grief as something you live with, not something you overcome.

catapult friday dispatch - exhibition we wanna see: Olivia rode hvass new tapestry on view at dead dogs dont die by slug gallery Leipzig — **Olivia Rode Hvass**, detail. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

anna soz, detail of her wonderful sculpture at dead dogs don´t die , wood, metal — **Anna Soz**, *Openly Wounded*, 2025. Graphite on paper, found object, tin casting (detail). *Image: Moritz Richter.*

The title itself is a paradox. Dead dogs don't die. What's already gone can't be lost again. But it can transform. It can haunt. It can become the architecture you build your life around.

Seven artists means seven different mutations. Personal mythologies colliding with societal ones. Individual loss becoming collective ritual. This is what grief looks like when you stop trying to fix it and start asking what it wants to become.

About SLUG Leipzig

SLUG is a interdisciplinary art space in Leipzig founded by curator Colette Patterson.

The name itself suggests mutation, transformation, the slow movement of things that refuse to die quickly.

Colette Patterson curated a new show in Leipzig called dead dogs dont die about grief a group show — **Installation view**, *The Dead Don’t Die* at **Slug Leipzig**. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

Artist Olivia Rode Hvass In Captivity but No Longer Dead , butterfly installation — **Olivia Rode Hvass**, *In Captivity but No Longer Dead*, 2022–ongoing. Installation, variable dimensions, burned plastic. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

promising artist Olivia Rode Hvass Flying T-shirt (Grief is where the flowers bloom) drawing on cardboard — **Olivia Rode Hvass**, *Flying T-shirt (Grief is Where the Flowers Bloom)*, 2023. *Image: Moritz Richter.*

Patterson's vision: "Slime trails are holographic archives shimmering in the sun, sticky between your fingers and under your tongue." That language, visceral, uncomfortable, beautiful, defines SLUG's curatorial approach. Art as something you feel physically, not just contemplate aesthetically.

Oliva Rode Hvass - Catapult Artist Spotlight

Located in Eisenbahnstraße 5, Leipzig's emerging cultural district. Open Thursday and Saturday 4-7pm and by appointment.

A space that requires intention to visit. You have to want to be there. Grief demands that kind of commitment.

Exhibition Details

Dead Dogs Don't Die Curated by Colette Patterson

Artists on Instagram:

Hanna Antonsson, Jan Baszak, Yutaro Inagaki, Martin Maeller, Olivia Rode Hvass, Anna Soz, Juli Winterstein

Location: SLUG, Eisenbahnstraße 5, 04315 Leipzig
Hours: The exhibition is open Thursday and Saturday 4-7pm and by appointment
Photography: Moritz Richter
Graphics: Paul Werner and Sören Sandbothe
Funded by: Kulturamt Leipzig

Paul Werner graphics for dead dogs dont die, curated by Colette Patterson — The Dead Don't Die Exhibition with Seven artists,Hanna Antonsson, **Jan Baszak** ( Just saw him at Vienna Contemporary), Yutaro Inagaki, Martin Maeller, **Olivia Rode Hvass**, Anna Soz, Juli Winterstein, gathered by curator **Colette Patterson**. Image: Moritz Richter

The Dead Don't Die. They Mutate.

How does grief mutate when you stop trying to heal it? "Dead Dogs Don't Die" offers seven answers, none of them comfortable, all of them necessary.

Grief becomes company. Grief gets tender. Grief entangles everything it touches.

That's not failure. That's what happens when you're honest about loss.

If you're in Leipzig, visit SLUG on Saturday between 4-7pm. If you're elsewhere, subscribe to Catapult for weekly exhibition dispatches. And if you know a show we should cover, share your tip.

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