Press Release - June
9, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Amy Douthett
JUNE 9, 1999
(212) 749-9776
WORKS OF ART CREATED BY ANIMALS TO BE DISPLAYED
AT VENICE BIENNALE IN HISTORIC FIRST
Photographs and Paintings by Chimpanzees and Elephants
the Result of Unique Collaboration by Russian Artists Komar and Melamid
(Venice, Italy) - New York-based collaborative artists
Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid announced today that works of art generated
in a unique collaboration with chimpanzees and elephants have been selected
for display at the Russian Pavilion of the famous Venice Biennale in Venice,
Italy. The two projects selected, Moscow Through the Eyes of Mikki
and works generated by The Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project,
are the latest in a series of animal collaborations undertaken by the
innovative Russian artists.
The Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project
grew out of a series of collaborations with elephant artists. While working
with the elephant Renee at the Toledo, Ohio zoo in 1995, Komar & Melamid
developed a method of teaching elephants to paint. In November 1998, they
founded two Elephant Art Academies in Lampang and Ayuthaya, Thailand in
order to assist starving elephants formerly used to haul lumber, and their
keepers, mahouts. The first exhibition in Bangkok raised more than
US$50,000 to benefit local conservation projects. This summer, Komar &
Melamid plan to open new academies in India and Indonesia.
Moscow Through the Eyes of Mikki is
a series of photographs taken by a 7-year old chimpanzee, in collaboration
with Komar & Melamid, who taught him to use various cameras during
the summer of 1998. After working extensively with a Polaroid instant
camera, Mikki began to understand the relationship between the images
that appeared on the photographs and what he saw in front of him. While
using cameras without automatic focus, Mikki often changed the focus by
touching the lens with his nose. The "impressionistic" work
that resulted reminded the artists of their nostalgic childhood memories.
Komar & Melamid initially hoped to bring animal
artists to accompany their animal kingdom show at the Venice Biennale,
but were unable to overcome the bureaucratic obstacles regarding the transportation
of animals.
Interviews can be arranged with Komar & Melamid,
and also with Asian elephant expert Richard Lair, on site at the elephant
academy in Lampang, Thailand.
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