Show Preview | Society of Animal Artists: Art and the Animal

Oradell, NJ, September 1-January 31, 2013

Ed Takacs, Elephant Greeting, acrylic, 12 x 16.

Ed Takacs, Elephant Greeting, acrylic, 12 x 16.

This story was featured in the October 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Order the Southwest Art magazine October 2012 print edition here, or purchase the Southwest Art magazine October 2012 digital download here. Or subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!

On September 1, the Society of Animal Artists unveiled its 52nd annual exhibition at the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum in Oradell, NJ. The show, which remains on display until January 31, 2013, includes juried paintings and sculptures from over 120 member artists that depict the diversity of animals with whom we share the planet, from exotic animals of far-flung places to beloved house pets to farmyard chickens.

On Saturday, October 6, many artists will be at the museum for an informal meet-and-greet from noon to 4 p.m., and many of the works will be for sale. In February 2013, a portion of the works will be selected to travel to art, cultural, and scientific institutions in Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Iowa through the end of 2013 as the Art and the Animal exhibit. Read on to meet a sampling of members of the Society of Animal Artists.

Wildlife sculptor Mick Doellinger comes from Australia originally, and his training there sculpting taxidermy mannequins contributed to his skill in 
creating Australian, American, and African wildlife sculpture. Simon Gudgeon practiced law and painted before he first picked up a block of artist’s clay in his 40s. Today the artist is best known for contemporary works of waterfowl and birds in flight in bronze, marble, and granite.

Simon Gudgeon, Dancing Cranes, bronze, 24 x 17 x 3.

Simon Gudgeon, Dancing Cranes, bronze, 24 x 17 x 3.

Trained in animal behavior, Diane D. Mason discovered sculpture in the 1990s. She creates bronze sculptures of farm animals, foxes, and other wildlife, often capturing an animal’s instinctual and humorous curiosity. From dung beetles to rhinoceroses, Paul Rhymer creates bronze works that draw on his considerable understanding of animal anatomy and his own desire to express motion or capture a feeling by extracting form from a simple chunk of clay.

Working in acrylic, oil, or watercolor, painter Ed Takacs employs tight realism to portray animals from domestic songbirds to the mammal kings of the African savanna. Painter Ezra Tucker devoted himself to becoming a wildlife artist when he was 12 and spent years observing animals, eventually discovering a depth in them he’d not known before. From the most exotic African animals to the common farm pig, Tucker reveals details and behaviors that are rarely captured.

Former Disney animator Ellen Woodbury carves streamlined, one-of-a-kind animal sculptures from a variety of colored and white marble. She says her work is less a celebration of nature than a meditation on things we risk losing to extinction. —Laura Rintala

contact information
201.261.0012
www.blauveltartmuseum.com

Featured in the October 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art magazine October 2012 digital download
Southwest Art magazine October 2012 print edition
Or subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!


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