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Get stuffed at the taxidermy exhibition that's not for the squeamish



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Published Date: 08 February 2008
RATS with painted nails, a fox caught in plastic wire and rabbit head shoes - Dean Clough's latest exhibition Dominion is certainly not for the squeamish as our shocking pictures show.
But the woman behind the mix of neon lights and stuffed animals is unrepentent.

Please be aware the pictures may offend. Click 'view gallery' to see all the pictures at full size and tell us what you think of them by posting a comment below.

Ebony Andrews - a 25-year-old registered taxidermist - composed the ghoulish display to highlight the view of animals in the 21st century and bring a fresh approach to the craft.

"I decided to use pure objects together with man-made things like the acrylic to show how animals are taken for granted.

"I want to be able to engage people with my work and am confident about the reaction from the public."

Many of the animals used by Miss Andrews for her projects are found at the roadside.

"Sometimes if I'm going on a journey somewhere I will take a bag with me in the car and look on the roadside as I drive.

"I am a naturalist and love animals so I would never do anything to harm them. I believe in recycling and finding another use for things which in a way this is."

Miss Andrews found an interest in taxidermy during her time at university when she used bird feathers for her art work.

"In my third year I came away from painting and started to look into objects, which is when I decided to try out taxidermy."

She took a course in taxidermy in Boston Spa, where she learnt the basic skills of stuffing a bird.

"When I first started doing it, I thought it was a bit squeamish but understanding the animals anatomy overrode that and instead of turning your nose at it you think, 'oh wow'."

Miss Andrews, of Bradford, is an assistant taxidermist at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The exhibition runs at Dean Clough's upstairs gallery until June 1.

What do you think of the display? Post your comment below.

The full article contains 366 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 08 February 2008 10:05 AM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Halifax
 
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yorkshirepudding,

hfx 08/02/2008 13:05:18
No sorry does nothing for me. Pink nose on a stuffed animal stuck to your wall. Oh sorry I'm obviously a philistine and know nothing about art.... Give me a nice picture of a lake and some trees please. Not my cup of tea. Even far too alternative for Hebden Bridge I reckon.
2

Roadrunner,

08/02/2008 13:43:57
'The pictures may offend...' I didn't think her haircut was THAT bad to be fair.

Looks like a great exhibition - good on her.
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Squirrelman,

Halifax 08/02/2008 14:07:29
I know that this is not new art - Potter created animal taxidermy displays copying humans ie school rooms, weddings etc to reflect real life . All art seems to need reinventing in a cyclic period and everyone who does it now thinks they have broken new ground not realising fully that it no more shocking than the "articles" produced last year, the year before etc. Not just taxidermy.

My view is that the specimens on show mock the animal, showing no respect for them at all and are just part of a campaign to launch an "art" career. My challenge to ebony is to produce a museum standard credited taxidermy piece to prove she has the right core skills. Anyone can paint horns but is the peice anatomically correct? This is not a personal slur against the "modern artists" and Ebony but to all taxidermists plying their trade - I have seen a wide variety of specimens with massivley varying finishes!

There is great pleasure in seeing a nicely mounted specimen, in a natural habitat looking as if it were alive than looking at multi-coloured bison horns. However, there will be those out there who have the complete opposite opinion and I roundly respect that.

Please enjoy the exibihition but be sure to look at the traditional works of taxidermy to so you can make up your own mind!!
4

yorkshirepudding,

hfx 08/02/2008 14:21:06
I also wonder how the courier got away with their very cheeky get stuffed title - it should be red penned - I'm offended!
5

stuffedstuffenthusiast,

Hebden B 08/02/2008 21:37:00
I would like to say that ‘Squirrelman’ clearly knows his taxidermy, however he seems to have failed to note that unlike (Walter) Potter’s work, Ebony avoids anthropomorphic taxidermy. In this sense, it is very different. The taxidermy is not anatomically accurate because the point of the work is to “render opaque the artifice of taxidermy”.

I think we all know taxidermied animals are dead – whether anatomically accurate or not, and the idea of respect and morality over taxidermy should be questioned in ALL its forms. Traditional museum taxidermy defies death, almost obliterates it from thought – the purpose of Ebony’s work seems to oppose this idea.

Most importantly, this is why it’s in an art gallery, not a museum.

It seems that Squirrelman’s idea of achieved taxidermy is that of the traditional natural history display. And rightly so, it takes great skill to create such works. However, I do wonder if the artist would find creating yet another ‘anatomically correct’ taxidermy mount so much of a challenge, since (as mentioned in the article) that is her job?

(Quote taken from: www.ebonyartworks.com)
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