Supernature Part 5. Freianlage
Supernature Part 5. Freianlage
Freianlage is a German term meaning open enclosure, which was used by
pioneering zoo-owner Carl Hagenbeck at the turn of the twentieth
century to describe a new kind of more naturalistic animal enclosure.
Andrew Bracey has long held a fascination with zoos, something which
manifests in his own Freianlage, an intriguing combination of
paintings and film that replicates and unhinges the viewers’
expectation of looking, thus eking out parallels between the zoo and
the art gallery.
In a bizarre game of ‘hunt the animals’ the work is either
partially hidden or placed in surprising juxtapositions in the
gallery which need to be discovered and sought out rather than
blatantly presented. Thus monkeys in magnifying glasses, jostle with
perspex bears, zebras on charcoal boxes and animated penguins.
The show is accompanied by the talk, Escape Claws: adventures with
absconding animals, as part of the gallery’s Ask the Expert series,
by writer and broadcaster Judith Palmer on Saturday 27 January at 5pm.
Supernature
Supernature is a season of visual art shows and accompanying talks,
workshops and writings, which examine contemporary culture’s means
of constructing and classifying the natural world. By looking at how
we attempt to order, own, control or live in harmony with nature,
Supernature addresses the distinction in contemporary thinking
between the apparently practical ‘green’ concerns of ecology and
the more theoretical ways in which relations to the non-human world
are historically mediated. Participating artists are Laura White,
Annabel Dover, Sigrid Holmwood, Chris Humphreys, Andrew Bracey, Paul
Harfleet and Hilary Jack.
Private View, Friday 5 Jan 6.30 - 9pm
Transition Gallery
Unit 25a Regent Studios, 8 Andrews Road - London