The Williamson
This was the third of my solo exhibitions (1987 and 1999) hosted by the gallery and my third exhibition with the title of They Think They are Fallen Angels. Several bodies of work seemed to fall comfortably under this heading: my Alien Invaders, Wolfpack and Amazons. More recent works included new paintings and relief carvings.
They Think They Are Fallen Angels
This exhibition is about man’s place in nature and how we see our relationship with the rest of the world. It is often said that Darwin changed our view of ourselves, so that we accept our animal origins. We know that we are apes. Physically we embrace this concept and we are comfortable that we share a physiology with animals – after all that allows us to cure our diseases by experimenting upon them. Humans have never really thought themselves to be physically superior to other animals because it is obvious that other animals can be stronger, faster, more agile, see better, hear better and so on, but we still want to see our species as exceptional not just unique (all species are unique, just as all humans are unique). And so we elevate ourselves by claiming that our brain makes us exceptional. Our brain is an adaptation to help us thrive in the world, like the long neck of a Giraffe. Of course, our brain enables us to do remarkable things but this gives us a sense of superiority and this damages any feeling of connection with nature. With superiority comes entitlement. We can control our environment for better or for worse. Underneath it all humans still think they are akin to deities in the great chain of being, but they know that they fail in their noble aspirations. They think they are Fallen Angels.
Click link below for review by Nina Newbold for Corridor 8
Christine Kowal Post: They Think They Are Fallen Angels
For further text click here
Click thumbnails for large images
