Submitted
The exhibition "Animal Groups" will be displayed from now through Jan. 15 at the Sternberg Museum.
This exhibition is an edition of "Animals in Art," which was originally produced to celebrate the holidays some years ago at The Miami MetroZoo.
This edition has been custom curated for the Hansen Museum in Logan for display from the July 4th weekend to Labor Day weekend 2021 to celebrate the opening of its newly renovated building.
But instead of featuring just one work per artist, this edition features nine groups by nine artists, each represented by five thematically-related works to afford visitors the opportunity to experience the breadth and depth of each artist’s specialized subject matter, treatment and expression.
Tucker Bailey, a painter and a sculptor who is known for her ability to artistically capture personalities of the horses she raises on 30 acres of North Carolina Piedmont, is represented by a strong selection of equine sculptures. Joy Becker, who specializes in canine sculpture and is well known for her series of playful Dachshunds, is represented by that breed and others including a Golden Retriever.
Educator, graphic designer, and artist, Brandon Finamore, has developed a specialty of portraying birds and insects, in this case, hummingbirds and butterflies which, though tiny, contribute mightily to pollination, which is essential for the ecological survival of the world.
Brian Jarvi, internationally renowned for his 32’ wide panorama, African Menagerie, is represented by five easel paintings of Africa’s “Big Five”: Lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo.
Former President of the National Sculpture Society, Dan Ostermiller, is represented by a group of barn yard animals full of character: two cats: a rooster, a bull, a turkey and a pig.
Paintings of animals of land and sea from throughout the Indian Ocean are included by Gamini Ratnavira, a native of that region, who has illustrated various books including "The Mammals of Sri Lanka" and "An Illustrated Guide to The Birds of Sri Lanka."
While former Smithsonian staff artist, Paul Rhymer, is represented by wall relief sculptures of five animals emblematic of the American Southwest: Peccary, road runner, quail on prickly pear and barrel cactus, jack rabbit, bobcat, plus a floor relief sculpture of a hippo thrown in for fun.
Rounding out the exhibition are livestock paintings, including Holstein calves, goats, Charolais beef cattle, chickens and a portrait grouping, by Jan McAllaster Stommes who, with her husband, are co-owners of an agricultural supply business in central Wisconsin.
Last but not least, is a group of North American Mountain-Plains wildlife – pronghorn antelope, elk, big horn sheep and two 7-foot tall showstoppers of a grizzly bear and a moose - by the incomparable Memphis-born painter, now of Colorado, Ezra Tucker.