Beauty and the beasts
Adam Volk
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Pelmus: "Just like many artists, animals work by instinct, creating art without realizing they are creating art"
photo: Jan Hendrik van Rooyen
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Exhibit offers rare glimpse into little known world of animal artists
When it comes to nature, there's little doubt that mankind is sitting comfortably atop the proverbial food chain. Humanity's dominion over the art world, on the other hand, might just be a little more precarious thanks to Animal House: Works of Art Made by Animals, a fascinating new exhibit taking place at Ottawa's SAW Gallery.The concept of animals creating art isn't nearly as esoteric as it sounds. Indeed, since the late 1950s, art made by animals has become a thriving, if not oft ignored, industry existing on the periphery of the contemporary art world. Early paintings from chimpanzees, for example, captured the public's attention due to their often striking similarity to the abstract and impressionist movements of the time, while more recent paintings from trained elephants are currently en vogue among collectors.
Animal House, however, may just be the first exhibit to present an in-depth and all-encompassing look into this rarely seen artistic world. The exhibit is the brainchild of SAW Gallery's curator Stefan St-Laurent, who was inspired by his own growing collection of animal art. "Initially we wanted to look at the exploitative work coming out of research and wildlife preserves and offer a critical viewpoint," says St-Laurent. "But the more we looked into it, the more we decided that we really wanted to offer a comprehensive experience so people can appreciate the intellectual and creative capacities of animals."
The family-friendly exhibit offers up three different
kinds of animal art: works from trained animal artists, naturally occurring animal works, and collaborations between animal and human artists. Among the roster of artists on display are some of the most prolific of both the two-legged and four-legged variety. Carry on the Back, for example, is a lush, multicoloured painting created by Ramona, a trained elephant artist from the Maesa Elephant Camp in Thailand. The abstract painting looks almost like something one would expect to find on the wall of a contemporary art gallery and seems to have a surprisingly complex structure, and the deliberate brushstrokes of a skilled painter. Similarly, Tongue Tied is a beautiful and strangely fascinating abstract work painted by Kamala, an elephant from the world renowned Calgary Zoo.Among the more naturally occurring works featured on display are a variety of bird's nests and other animal creations referred to as "unintentional animal art." The exhibit also features works from three local Ottawa artists who were commissioned to recreate naturally occurring animal structures. Among these artists is sculptor Theo Pelmus, who was given the daunting task of creating realistic African swallow nests. "The nests actually look like beautiful sculptures," says Pelmus. "So I made them from clay to try and stay as close as possible to the materials the birds actually use. This is a challenge as an artist, because when you try to imitate nature it's very difficult."
To facilitate the process, Pelmus says he spent a great deal of time researching the nesting habits of the swallows and says that the real challenge is trying to think like an animal rather than an artist. "There's a fine line that separates animals and artists," says Pelmus. "Just like many artists, animals work by instinct, creating art without realizing they are creating art."
One of the more fascinating aspects of Animal House, however, is undoubtedly the collaborations between animal and human. Of particular note are several works from celebrated '60s artist and feminist icon Carolee Schneemann, who has incorporated her three cats into a series of works. The most visually striking human and animal collaboration, however, may just be Harlequin, an almost iridescent abstract painting created by Koopa, a box turtle from Hartford, Connecticut, who "paints" by crawling across a canvas, creating unusually complex shapes and patterns. There are also several fascinating pieces from Tilda, an orangutan from the Krefeld Zoo in Germany who works closely with a local collective of artists to create collaborative abstract paintings.
St-Laurent, however, is quick to point out that while art by animals is indeed an amazing phenomenon, it also raises a number of ethical questions given that in most cases the animals are held in captivity and carefully trained by their handlers. "Trained animal art is an important parallel art market that's virtually unscrutinized," says St-Laurent. "As a community of artists at the SAW Gallery, we felt that it's our job to bring these questions to the public, and the purpose of the exhibit is really for people to reach their own conclusions about animal artists."
When it comes to the notion of animals possessing artistic talent, however, St-Laurent is quick to come to their defence. "Animals are definitely creative," he says. "But they can only express that creativity when they're in the wild or in a relationship with humans that's based solely on love and respect."
Animal House: Works of Art Made by Animals
@ SAW Gallery
(67 Nicholas St.)
Until Sept. 26
Did you hear/read about Bowerbirds? I always thought that artists ought to have an open mind...
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Ana Baena
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| no kiding ; animal art? and what else ? |
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I feel offended as a painter to see where this joke has come to.
We barely got out of the techniciens of art cult (thank god for photography) there is still people that don't know what painting is. Forget knowing what art means. If they did , they might have more respect for it.
Stupid desparation.
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Cécile Grand Maison
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