15 Mar 2011, Posted by admin in Aba,Thoughts, No Comments. Tagged art, concept, deeper meaning, london

DIY Taxidermy Live!

Words by Aba.

Purists might argue that mummification should be left in the past with the Ancient Egyptians, but if contemporary art has proven anything, from Tracy Emin’s unmade bed to Damien Hirst’s rotting cow, it’s that sometimes the best art must break all the rules. So with a slight fear in our gut but hope in our eyes Cloak and Swagger arrived at a night of D.I.Y Taxidermy at the Future Gallery, hosted by artist Charlie Tuesday Gates.

Charlie Tuesday Gates is an artist fascinated by the morbid as her works revolve around the dead. Literally. Her pieces are based on what some might dismiss as road kill – squashed foxes, rodent skulls, birds of various varieties. For these reasons, her mixed media compositions are certainly not for the faint of heart. ‘Fox in a Box’, retailing at £350, though aptly titled looks more suited to a pet cemetery than a front room. He’ll kill me for saying it, but Karel was actually frightened by most things in the room. Charlie’s current project is D.I.Y. Taxidermy, where she invites an audience to watch the process of turning fleshless animal skin into a life like representation.