Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

In his latest exhibition, Erick Swenson explores the beauty in both life and death and through his haunting sculptures depicts a brutal reality that we share in common with creatures of the wilderness.

Swide caught up with Erick Swenson’s latest exhibition of avant-garde at the James Cohan Gallery, which opens to the public April 1st through May 1st, 2010. The American artist debuts a collection of mythical animals, hybrids of familiar and mysterious features, inspired by his childhood passion for the taxidermy animals at the natural history museum. Swenson’s latest piece, “Ne Plus Ultra,” an elaboration of an earlier sculpture by the same name, depicts a decaying deer head, which represents the inevitable extinction of worldly creatures. The centerpiece, though gruesome in nature, portrays the physical dissolution of existence.

"Ice head"

In Ice Head, the brown antlers of a deceased deer—represented as an isolated white head—"suggest a slow death in the forest.". A representation of a constant struggle in life.

"Untitled [Fawn with Cape]"

Untitled [Fawn with Cape], could be considered to be one of the most memorable pieces within Swenson's work, features a spindly-legged fawn possessing an infant like vulnerability. The fawn is cruelly hoisted into the air by an invisible figure, "a dark magician represented by a billowing black cape dramatically red-flocked on its underside. The animal’s expression is one of pitiful inevitability, a resignation to the laws of life and death". The cape represents death that floats above the pitiful animal, ready to snatch life. "The sheer spectacle of the counterbalancing of the small animal and the enormous cape is its own magic".

 “Ne Plus Ultra”, which translates from Latin to “No Further Beyond,” is a term once used by cartographers to describe unexplored land. In this sculpture, the decaying flesh reveals bone mass engraved with features resembling an old Mariner’s map detailing the explorer’s journey through life. As if the lines describe the collective life story of this animal, Swenson confronts the living truth of death – the disintegration of both our physical and personal identities.

Erick Swenson's work can be viewed at the James Cohan Gallery during April 1 - May 1, 2010, visit their website here for more info.

Sources: Art Papers, James Cohan Gallery

Photo credits: James Cohan Gallery

TAGS: erick swenson exhibition taxidermy james cohan gallery life death sculptures online magazine artist art show style magazine