Category: Art
Blind Long-tailed Owl, Desert Variant of Little Owl from the series, As Walked on Water, 2011.
The Blind Long-tailed Owl (2011), ‘watches’ over us at both the beginning and end of the exhibition – This owl has evolved a sight-sheltering plumage to cope with the desert conditions it has been forced into, due to de-forestation. This bird becomes a totem; it’s visual impairment /adaptation alludes to the limitations of the human regard for animals and suggests a change of perspective and abandoning of our assumptions about reality.
The Institute of Critical Zoologists (ICZ) works with artists, scientists and researchers to develop a critical approach to the zoological gaze. Motivated by current ecological concerns, the heart of its practice addresses the human regard for animals as conveyors of meaning with values that are both culturally and politically specific. Chapter has worked in collaboration with the ICZ to present its first UK retrospective exhibition that interrogates the boundaries between the seen and the unseen, art and artifice, credence and fantasy; exploring methods of allegorical representation and interpretation.
The 8th Phylliidae Convention with Phyllium S. in 1991.
In March 2012, ICZ artist Zhao Renhui undertook a residency at the National Museum Cardiff that has informed part of the research for this exhibition. An installation by the artist is open in the Natural History Galleries at the Museum between 13 March and 17 June 2012 as well as at Chapter Gallery.
Chapter is open between Tuesday — Saturday 10am–8pm, Sunday 2pm–8pm. Closed Monday. Admission free.