Art by Animals @ the Grant Museum of Zoology (first ever multi-species art exhibition) story w/pics

[Kadie]

A visitor poses between a 2010 painting by 'Nong Bank' a 10 year-old Asian Elephant entitled 'Abstract Painting' (L) and a 2011 painting by 'Boon Mee' a 15 year-old Asian Elephant entitled 'Flower Pot' (R) during an exhibition of animal art at the Grant Museum of Zoology in central London on February 1, 2012. The exhibition showed examples of artwork created by animals in what was billed as the first ever multi-species art exhibition.


An employee poses next to an untitled 2012 painted by 'Joseph' a Sumatran Orang-utan born in 1995 at Eric Zoo in the U.S where he is currently resident, at the Grant Museum of Zoology in central London on February 1, 2012. The exhibition showed examples of artwork created by animals in what was billed as the first ever multi-species art exhibition.


An employee poses next to an untitled 2011 painted at Eric Zoo in the US by 'Samantha' a Western Lowland Gorilla born in 1964, at the Grant Museum of Zoology in central London on February 1, 2012. The exhibition showed examples of artwork created by animals in what was billed as the first ever multi-species art exhibition.


pics from news.daylife.com



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Exhibition Preview: Art by Animals @ the Grant Museum of Zoology
BY ZOE CRAIG · FEBRUARY 1, 2012 AT 12:00 PM

Head to the Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL from today, and you can see an exhibition of art by animals.

Firmly planted in the “London really does have it all” category, this new show is displaying art by elephants and apes from around the world. One highlight is a painting of a flowerpot by the elephant Boon Me, who we’re told used to be a logging elephant in Thailand. (Presumably before he got his calling to don a beret and spend hours with his head on one side, brush in trunk, staring at blank canvases.)

Other pieces have been created by orang-utans, gorillas and chimps. Their handiwork is on show alongside animal specimens and historical documentation. The exhibition raises the question of whether animals can make art, and why some animal creations are considered valuable, while others are dismissed as meaningless.

Jack Ashby, Manager of the Grant Museum of Zoology, says, “Whether this is actually art is the big question. While individual elephants are trained to always paint the same thing, art produced by apes is a lot more creative and is almost undistinguishable from abstract art by humans that use similar techniques.”

more...
http://londonist.com/2012/02/exhibition-preview-art-by-animals-at-the-grant-museum-of-zoology.php



Untitled (2011) by Samantha (Western lowland Gorilla, Erie Zoo, Pennsylvania)



Digit Master by Bakhari (Chimp, Saint Louis Zoo, Mossouri)