The Animal Kingdom

One of the many delights of Holy Cross’ Cantor Art Gallery is that it is flexible enough to accommodate the demands of any small- and mid-sized art show with splendid results.

That’s exceptionally evident in the current exhibit, Zoologia Fantastica. The physical space ends up being part of the experience that pushes viewers to tap into their fears and fantasies of the animal world and, in so doing, look to humankind’s future and past.

The large glass windows framing the gallery in O’Kane Hall allow passersby to peer in. For this show, the gallery is painted an atmospheric gray. Coupled with the building’s venerable aesthetics and dark wood, the setting makes for the perfect display of fauna.

Running through April 5, Zoologia Fantastica presents the work of seven contemporary artists — Christine Baeumler, Brian Burkhardt, Catherine Chalmers, Kelli Scott Kelley, Mary Kenny, Amy Ross, and Karl Unnasch — as they explore the human impact on the world, especially the animal kingdom.

The exhibit provokes important questions related to extinction, genetic mutation, and environmental concerns, among others. The interdisciplinary nature of the show also offers many opportunities for involvement of academic departments across the College. Environmental Studies is cosponsoring several talks on the exhibit, and last month David Hummon, professor of sociology, and Karen Ober, assistant professor of biology, took part in a roundtable discussion with Baumler regarding Darwin’s theory of evolution and the creative process.

A piece by Burkhardt shows a mutated jellyfish consuming a plastic grocery bag. Another of his works shows starfish devouring cell phones (pictured).

Baeumler explores ecology and evolution with videos from the Galapagos Islands. Her piece is a long wooden table, designed to be like ones Charles Darwin used for his experiments. Bell jars sit atop the table, each covering a video by Baeumler. In the most arresting visual, the eye of a reptile slowly morphs into a human eye.

Cristi Rinklin, assistant professor of visual arts and studio division head at Holy Cross, drew together the artists — who live and work across the nation — for the show, which is enlivened by far-reaching subject matter and a range of media.

Among the more than half dozen events scheduled as part of the show’s run, Rinklin is particularly excited about a talk that Chalmers will deliver on Feb. 27 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Stein Hall, Room 129. Her work, while not for the squeamish, is engrossing.

The artist has six 30 by 40 inch photos of genetically altered laboratory mice exhibited in the show — a hairless mouse (called a “pinkie”), a blind mouse, a curly-tailed mouse, an obese mouse, a mouse with traits of a rhino, and a mouse with Down syndrome. The prints deliberately confound perspective. Enlarged to human scale and placed directly at eye level in the gallery, the viewer enters a world in which we are removed.

Sure, these creatures are so different from us that it’s difficult to like them. But out of context and perspective, their portraitures resonate. Study the photographs and you may wonder what separates us from these subjects: superiority of civilization, a distrust of instinct, our ability to play God? The exhibit doesn’t offer any answers.

“With this level of ambiguity, art like this allows viewers to participate without feeling that they’re being preached to or being forced to take a particular position,” says Rinklin.

The fact that Zoologia Fantastica is tantalizingly ambiguous is part of its appeal. This is an exhibit that you view with sharp attention, both for the important questions it asks and the lack of direct answers it offers.

Rinklin points out that the exhibit holds up a mirror to our times — which is more chilling than looking into the snow-white eyes of the blind mouse. Indeed, the indulgences of modern life — presented here by contemporary artwork — have the power to make us uncomfortable and uneasy, and somehow this latest exhibition evokes the same feelings.

“We get very programmed into understanding our world in certain ways,” she says. “We sometimes have to take ourselves outside of that. That’s when epiphanies come along, and things that stir us into action.” Related Information:

Press Release: Holy Cross\' Cantor Art Gallery Exhibition to Explore Ethics of the Natural World Cantor Art Gallery Telegram & Gazette Story