House of Beasts brochure

an exhibition of contemporary art
Attingham Park
2 July 2011 – 15 July 2012
This exhibition contains taxidermy
and feathers. No animal has been
harmed in the making of any of
the works.
Within the context of Attingham
Re-discovered, the ongoing
programme of conservation to the
mansion’s interiors, and a major
re-roofing project in the Picture
Gallery, some of the pieces in
this exhibition will be relocated
to different rooms in the house as
from January 2012.
new commissions by:
Ruth Claxton / Tessa Farmer
Tom Gallant / Des Hughes
Susie MacMurray / Sophie Molins
and works by:
Marcus Coates / Mat Collishaw
Robert Davies / Rachel Goodyear
Kathleen Herbert / Henry Krokatsis
Alastair Mackie / Kate MccGwire
Polly Morgan / Nina Saunders
Anj Smith / Hugo Wilson
Daphne Wright
The Ties That Bind…
Welcome to the latest exhibition of contemporary art produced by
Meadow Arts and hosted by the National Trust. House of Beasts will take
you on a journey through the mansion, stables and parkland of Attingham
Park, following the trail of an unusual crowd of animals.
Around 40 works, including 6 new commissions, explore and respond to
Attingham’s rich collections and history. They also underline the importance
of the Estate’s animal population past and present. There is currently a
fascination with animals in contemporary art, which only mirrors the
ongoing creative practice of using animals as metaphors and references.
House of Beasts investigates our connection with those animals, whether
domesticated, wild or managed, who share the space we live in. We
can be linked to those animals by very different types of relationships
that can range from highly emotional ties, as in the case of pets or
horses, to purely economical as in animal food production; animals
can elicit admiration and curiosity, or even pure antagonism. The works
will also explore the philosophical shift in the way we approach those
relationships, sometimes rejecting human exceptionalism and, ideas of
anthropomorphism.
This exhibition supports a three year partnership between National Trust
and Arts Council England to promote contemporary art at National Trust
properties. The production of this exhibition involved very creative and
fruitful exchanges with the team at Attingham to whom we are grateful.
Anne de Charmant
Director and Curator, Meadow Arts
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Attingham
as Art Gallery?
We at Attingham are thrilled to invite you to experience this fascinating
new contemporary art exhibition called House of Beasts, curated, produced
and funded by Meadow Arts with the support of the Arts Council.
We see this as a very exciting opportunity both to attract different audiences
and also to offer a new encounter to our regular visitors. The link between
the historic and the contemporary will hopefully open fresh perspectives,
and encourage visitors to enter into a new dialogue with the place.
Focused on the central role animals have played and continue to
play on the property, the art works directly respond to Attingham’s
collections and characters.
House of Beasts is the largest contemporary art project in the National
Trust in 2011 and is part of their nation-wide Trust New Art initiative
in collaboration with the Arts Council. This aims to ‘place brand new
artwork in traditional and historic settings, to keep them inspiring and
alive, draw links between the new and the old and encourage ways of
looking at our national heritage through fresh eyes’.
Attingham is mainly what it is today because generations of the Berwicks
acted as collectors of the contemporary art of their time. We are proud
that, for a few months at least, Attingham can act as a location to see
contemporary art in Shropshire, where there are few other such opportunities.
The siting and installation of the works have been events in their own
right and have posed considerable conservation, curatorial and Health &
Safety challenges. The process has also been engaging and creative and
we hope that you will feel we have responded well to these challenges.
Mark Agnew
General Manager
and Sarah Kay
Curator
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Stables
Kathleen
Herbert
Stable
Super 16mm film. Duration 7' 56"
Courtesy the Artist and Danielle
Arnaud Contemporary Art, London
For one night, during her residency
at Gloucester Cathedral, the artist
brought horses into the grand
building to walk freely and explore
the vast space. She was inspired
by a historical event from the
Commonwealth period when
Cromwell was said to have stabled
his men’s horses in the Cathedral.
The elegant creatures in the film
and the sound of their hooves in
the cavernous space recall the
presence of the Berwicks’ numerous
horses; at one point totalling up to
56. With their grandeur, size and
architectural detail, Attingham’s 18th
century stables were considered
exceptional, even in their day.
Entrance Hall
Warning: historic uneven floor
and low light levels
Kate MccGwire
Vex
Mixed media with pigeon feathers
in museum cabinet
Courtesy the Artist and All Visual
Arts, London
This striking piece - part bird, part
snake - defies naturalists’ attempts
at categorisation. Coiled in a glass
case from the V&A Museum, this
grey-feathered hybrid conjures all
the mythical and extinct creatures
of humanity’s imagination.
Vex alerts the visitor to the many
representations of fabulous beasts
that they will encounter in the
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decoration of the house as well as
drawing attention to the wonderful
grey tones and illusions of the
Entrance Hall.
Pigeons are a common sight across
the Attingham Estate, so much so
that they are considered pests and
are shot by the farmers.
The Beast in Me
Digital photo
Courtesy Anne Faggionato
This seductive photograph,
depicting the ancient Greek myth
of Europa and the Bull, reflects the
beauty and femininity of this side
of the house, pitting overpowering
masculinity against fragile beauty
and the mechanisms of seduction.
Beast in Me uses the visual
language of the classical style
and echoes the many references
to ancient myths that appear
throughout the decoration and
paintings at Attingham.
Drawing Room
Mat Collishaw
According to the myth, when Zeus
saw Europa gathering flowers by the
sea he fell desperately in love with
her. He transformed himself into a
bull, seduced her with his gentleness
and eventually abducted her.
Drawing Room
Tessa Farmer
Bell Jars with Insects
and Fairies
Organic material in bell jars
Courtesy the Artist and Danielle
Arnaud Contemporary Art, London
Tessa Farmer’s miniscule scenes
are painstakingly conjured from
organic material such as roots and
dead insects. Weaving a fantasy
drawn from literature, legends and
her own imagination, Farmer’s
winged creatures occupy a
transitory state somewhere between
life and death, between the
beautiful and the uncanny.
These hybrid specimens encourage
the visitor to notice the abundance
of references to animals and
mythological creatures in the
furniture, textiles and motifs in this
room, such as the chimaeras on
the ceiling and the hoofed feet of
the furniture.
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Sultana Room
Sophie Molins
Sundial in Moonlight
Interactive digital work
Meadow Arts Commission 2011
The intriguing monkey music box
is a symbol of Thomas the 2nd Lord
Berwick’s passionate and desperate
attempts to woo the seventeen yearold courtesan Sophia. With the ruby
eyed monkey as our guide, the webbased work Sundial in Moonlight
takes us on an extraordinary journey
through a virtual Attingham.
The viewer moves symbolic
objects in order to enter the
site and choose which path
to follow. One is through the
masculine domain and the
other the feminine. She uses the
iconography of satirical Regency
cartoons to comment on the values
and behaviour of the time.
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The viewer interacts to keep moving
as spaces fly by, glass domes
rotate, regency cartoons dance
and the viewer is lead on a playful
journey that is the eternal mystery
of seduction and relationships.
Eventually there is a third choice, a
flight through a digitally constructed
rotund crimson staircase. But this
is made from flesh and mirrors an
interior human chamber: the heart,
mind, or womb.
Sophie Molins’ digital work reflects
on issues of seduction, power and
intimacy. Constructed like a “memory
palace”, it plays with the left / right,
masculine / feminine divide.
“A man overwhelmed by mood is
a sundial in moonlight telling the
wrong time”
A video documentation of the
work is visible upstairs while an
interactive version exists on
www.sundialinmoonlight.com
Sultana Room
Daphne Wright
Primate
Marble dust, onyx, resin, paint and
silk embroidery
Courtesy the Artist and Frith Street
Gallery, London
Daphne Wright meets the difficult
and sometimes controversial issue
of animals’ death head-on. She
researches and traces the manner
of each animal’s death, before
honouring them by casting their
bodies in pure white marble dust.
With Primate she has cast the
body of a rhesus monkey in-situ
at the research centre where
he was euthanised. Delicately
embroidered, Wright’s monkey is
sensitively displayed lying on its
side; it seems to be asleep.
Primate lies at the opposite end of
the room from Attingham’s iconic
music box with its precious chained
monkey. Both objects suggest man’s
enslavement of certain species and
animals in general.
East Ante Room
Polly Morgan
One For Sorrow
Bakelite phone
and taxidermy Magpie
Courtesy the Artist
Polly Morgan’s practice focuses
on taxidermy, which she uses in
unexpected ways. There is a quiet,
haunting quality to her work, none
more so than in this piece, where
the association of one magpie –
One for Sorrow - underlines the
inherent melancholy of this room.
The period telephone can be
associated with the 8th Lady
Berwick’s heyday at Attingham;
her controversial portrait by Sickert
hangs above. This piece symbolises
the losses in her life and indeed her
own tragic death.
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East Ante Room
Anj Smith
Miasma
Oil on linen
Courtesy IBID Projects, London and
Hauser & Wirth, New York. Private
Collection of Magnus Edenvard
This small oil painting offers a
contemporary counterpoint to
the many historic landscapes and
pastoral scenes in Attingham’s
collection. Anj Smith’s beautifully
textured and dream-like paintings
often allude to the symbolic
power of animals. The female
figure standing in the barren
landscape is a construction of
animal skulls, as if wearing a
ritual or funereal dress.
Boudoir
Both gorgeous and nightmarish,
the painting speaks of grief and
impermanence, taking on the
theme of widowhood and absence
prevalent in the East Anteroom.
Nina Saunders
Chandelier
(Katy’s Convoy)
Chandelier with taxidermy birds
Courtesy the Artist
Hanging in the middle of this
exquisite room, the most intimate
and feminine in the house, is an
intriguing chandelier. With her
altered objects Nina Saunders
builds a universe that is both
seductive and alarming. Here,
immobile birds - sinister birds or
love birds? - have alighted on a
crystal chandelier, happy to perch
there for all eternity. The work
introduces a discordant note into
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the idealised perfection of its
surroundings.
The Boudoir, designed for the 1st
Lady Berwick, is a room of perfect
symmetry, decorated with the
theme of love, but it could also be
seen as a gilded cage.
East Passage
Marcus Coates
Red fox
Photograph
Courtesy Kate MacGarry,
Workplace Gallery & Movement
Goshawk
Photograph
Courtesy Kate MacGarry,
Workplace Gallery & Movement
Works shown in partnership with
Movement, Worcester.
Marcus Coates’ work attempts to
mediate between the human and
animal realms, rejecting the idea of
humans being at the centre of the
world, as a privileged species of the
highest status. He aspires to and
seeks transformational states, where
one being becomes another. He
focuses on the animalistic aspects
of human nature.
These works are early examinations
of this process. They explore
humanness in a rural environment,
more densely inhabited by wild
creatures than by people.
These images are two in a series of
early works. Coates crouches on all
fours dressed head to toe in red to
become a fox in a Worcestershire
field. Perched precariously high in
a distant tree, he becomes a rare
bird; the Goshawk.
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Modular
Cut paper, wood, paint, wire mesh, archival board
Courtesy the Artist
Male weaver-birds create intricate
woven structures during the mating
season. By intertwining twigs and
found material they construct
colourful and extravagant structures
to attract the female. In much the
same way, the 2nd Lord Berwick
lavishly decorated the mansion
before and during his marriage
to Sophia. The bold Regency
scheme of the room illustrates his
extravagant desire to impress.
The artist has also responded
to the Attingham Re-discovered
project, which is restoring the
Regency splendour of this room
at the heart of the masculine
part of the house. His structures,
nestled in the cabinets where
Lord Berwick would have kept his
private papers and documents,
are made of a multitude of shreds
from old magazines. They reflect
the striking colours and patterns
in this room and take their shape
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Artist’s impression
Octagon Room
Tom Gallant
from actual decorative elements
present through the house such
as griffins on the table legs in the
Picture Gallery or the finial of the
chandelier above.
Folk Tales
My Bloody Chamber,
His Greed and Stupidity
Led him to Kill,
The Serf,
For All His Pains,
Venture Forth Once More
These works hang amongst the
original architectural drawings
for the building of Attingham. The
formality of these grand designs
strikes a contrast with the whimsical
imagination of
Gallant’s Folk Tales.
West Passage
Tom Gallant
Cut paper
Courtesy the Artist
Tom Gallant constructed these
collages by combining Gustave
Doré’s illustrations for La Fontaine’s
Fables with images from an 18th
century dissection manual. Folk tales
often attribute human characteristics
to familiar animals and centre on
their strong symbolism.
West Ante Room
Robert Davies
Buttercup
Pencil on paper
Courtesy the Artist
This imposing drawing is one in a
series of portraits of animals from
a local sanctuary. Robert Davies is
working to the scale and grandeur
of the traditional British equestrian
portraits; his decision to represent
cattle in this way questions our
unequal responses to different types
of animals, such as those used in
food production.
‘Buttercup’ mirrors the collection of
portraits of the 5th Lord Berwick’s
prize-winning Hereford cattle in
this room. The 8th Lady Berwick
was similarly proud of her cattle,
individually naming some of her
cows Matisse, Gauguin and Picasso.
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In the Parkland
Walled
Garden
4
5
S
1
In the Stables
Kathleen Herbert - Stable
2
On the East side of the Mansion
Daphne Wright - Swan
3
Mile Walk Riverside
Des Hughes - Dog
4
5
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Glasshouses
Tessa Farmer The Interlopers
Main Path
Ruth Claxton Synthetic Worlds (Skytops)
Visitor
Car Park
3
Stable
2
1
Mansion
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West Ante Room
Hugo Wilson
Modern Farm Animals
Etching box set
Courtesy All Visual Arts, London
These etchings appear to be
archival records of common farm
animals, many of which can be
found on the Attingham Estate.
However, closer examination
reveals amusing anomalies, such
as the pig’s glowing nose, and
humorous references such as to
‘Dolly the Sheep’.
Inner Library
The 5th Lord Berwick created
model farms, using the latest
techniques of his time. In these
Robert Davies
etchings Wilson is questioning the
modern progress of farming and the
practice of genetic modification.
Insects
photograms. These images force
us to consider the abundance of
insects that share our living space.
Robert Davies has collected dead
insects in his studio and placed
them directly onto the surface of
a photosensitive material, then by
exposing it to light he created these
They bring to mind naturalists’
collections and represent the
interest for scientific investigation
and cabinets of curiosity, which
were a trademark of gentlemen’s
homes. It also highlights Attingham’s
collection of Natural History books.
C-type unique photograms
Courtesy the Artist
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Insecticide 17
C-type photo on Dibond
Courtesy the Artist and Blain
Southern Limited, London
Enlarged to an epic scale, Mat
Collishaw’s gigantic photograph
of a squashed insect has found
its place over the Inner Library’s
mantle piece, a place usually
reserved for portraits of the notable
and powerful.
of tragedy and violence contrasting
with our habitual indifference
towards the death of an insect.
These same small creatures can
cause enormous damage and are
a constant preoccupation for the
conservation teams of the National
Trust. Their fight against this
invisible enemy is illustrated here
on the grandest of scales.
Inner Library
Mat Collishaw
An infinite number of parasites
and insects can be found in our
homes. The artist has captured the
moment of their death with a sense
Sculpture for Dogs
Jesmonite, sandstone powder,
steel wire
Courtesy the Artist and
Ancient & Modern, London
Lord Berwick’s treasured pet dogs by
the hearth. The idea of spoiling the
dogs enough to give them their own
sculpture emphasises the Berwicks’
love of dogs.
Des Hughes gently subverts
conventional ideas about sculpture.
Here he has made a sculpture for
dogs as if correcting an oversight
– dogs are an audience too. He
has fashioned human hands, cast
in dog biscuits, so the intended
canine audience might literally bite
the hand that feeds it.
This sculpture encourages the visitor
to imagine the presence of the 8th
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Inner Library
Des Hughes
Inner Library
Susie
MacMurray
Herd
Cut antlers, silk velvet & ply
Meadow Arts Commission 2011
Susie MacMurray has amassed
dozens of antlers from Attingham’s
herd with the help of the Park
Manager and Wardens. These
come from natural shedding but
also from the regular cull of the
deer herd. The carefully arranged
cut antlers appear to burst through
the doorway, spilling out into the
tranquillity of the Inner Library.
They emerge from a mass of
crumpled crimson velvet whose
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opulent texture echoes the ‘velvet’
on newly-growing antlers.
The piece also references the game
trophies found in most country
seats. These are strangely absent
from Attingham, perhaps because
the 8th Lord Berwick had such a
strong bond with his deer. He used
to hand-feed the animals and left
Attingham at the time of the cull as
he found it too distressing.
The notion of an ideal ‘chocolate
box’ landscape which we all like
to visit, with deer or other animals
peacefully grazing, is of course
only possible by continuous care
which includes the harsh reality of
managing the deer population.
Untitled (Sphere)
Artist’s Proof
Mouse skulls, wood, glass
Courtesy the Artist and All Visual
Arts, London
The owl, having swallowed its prey
whole, slowly digests the nourishing,
softer parts. It then regurgitates the
indigestible bones, feathers and fur
in the form of a pellet. To create his
sculpture Alastair Mackie extracts
mouse skulls from the pellets. With
meticulous craftsmanship turns this
natural product into an object of
fascination, beauty and scientific
curiosity. A hint of the initial violence
lingers in the fragility of the work.
Inner Library
Alastair Mackie
Dissecting owl pellets is a common
pursuit for boys who grow up in
the countryside. In the serious
and learned surroundings of the
Inner Library, this piece acts as a
nostalgic reminder of childhood.
Dining Room
Polly Morgan
MS Found in a Bottle
Taxidermy pigeon, glass, cork
Courtesy the Artist
Polly Morgan is a member of the
Guild of Taxidermists. She creates
poetic and unnerving scenes
using animals that have met an
accidental or unpreventable death.
Taking its title from an Edgar Allan
Poe short story, the work is suitably
unsettling. It consists of a messenger
pigeon lying huddled at the bottom
of a glass decanter. Is he resting
after a long voyage? Has he been
captured carrying vital information?
Is he to be served at the banquet in
the dining room – he is resting quite
close to a tasty pigeon pie?
The piece also humorously
references ‘ship in a bottle’ models
and points towards the 7th Lord
Berwick’s love of sailing.
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Picture Gallery
Picture Gallery
Susie
MacMurray
Old Game Birds
Bird on the Shelf,
Two Birds Hanging
The false perspective in his work
creates an illusion of a third dimension,
which relates to the ‘trompe-l’oeil’
effect in the Entrance Hall.
Artist’s impression
Tom Gallant
Cut paper, glass, wood, paint
Courtesy the Artist
Tom Gallant has mastered the
traditional Japanese craft of
kirigami and produces elaborate
works from cut paper. Taking his
influence from the traditional still
lives in the Picture Gallery he
has created these works from old
magazines. Using multiple layers
of paper he has managed to give a
real sense of the feathers.
Blind
Peacock feathers
Courtesy the Artist
The peacock has a special place in
many cultures. In Britain, the peacock
can often be seen as an exotic
aristocrat, strutting around stately
homes in all its outrageous beauty.
By cutting out the “eyes” in the
feathers Susie MacMurray nips such
decadence in the bud, blinding every
feather in a restrained and yet violent
action for such a quiet and beautiful
work. The work also examines the
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mechanisms of seduction and the
subversion of gender types. What
would happen if the male of the
species lost his attributes?
Game bird feathers coming out of
pot on range
Courtesy the Artist
Artist’s impression
Evacuate
Evacuate plays with the “behind
the scenes” world of the kitchen.
Thousands of bird feathers, each
taken from a species such as
pheasant and grouse regularly shot
and cooked, are here re-assembled
to create a new “creature”.
Creeping and spilling out, the work
feels weighty, meaty and unsettling.
The visitor is at once taken by the
gorgeousness of the piece itself
Den of Iniquity
Stop motion animation
Courtesy the Artist and Danielle
Arnaud Contemporary Art, London.
Commissioned by Belsay Hall for
Extraordinary Measures
- the assemblage of “common”
feathers presented as something
completely exotic - and shamed by
the discarding of objects of beauty
in favour of a perfunctory dinner.
This piece is a reworked version of the
Tatton Park Biennial 2010 installation
commissioned by Parabola.
of life’s cycles. In a merciless war
plants and animals need to consume
resources at the expense of their
competitors in order to survive. This
underground world of competition
and power unfolds in the Vaults of
the mansion as it does, unnoticed,
in the natural world.
Tessa Farmer’s fairies, as we have
already seen in the Drawing Room,
are not the stuff of Disney, but
are part of a richer, darker, more
ancient mythology that instils fear
rather than pleasure-filled fantasies.
With her quirky animations the artist
reminds us of the harsh realities
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Silver Vaults
Tessa Farmer &
Sean Daniels
Kitchen
Kate MccGwire
Silver Vaults
Nina Saunders
The Collector
Taxidermy sparrow hawk, fibreglass,
upholstery materials, fabric
Courtesy the Artist
booted and suited; he could be
the collector himself, guarding his
treasure. Or is he a thief preying on
the glittering loot?
The Collector is a still but
disquieting presence standing in
one of the glass cases of the Silver
Vaults. At first glance he could
be part of this extravagant and
almost overblown collection of
ambassadorial silver brought back
from the 3rd Lord Berwick’s travels.
Housekeeper’s Room
Still recognisable as half sparrowhawk, half man, the upholstered
hybrid seems all buttoned up,
Nina Saunders
Refuge
Taxidermy fox and
upholstered armchair
Courtesy David Roberts Collection,
London
Nina Saunders is known for
stretching and contorting traditional
pieces of furniture in which she
integrates animals of the type that
populate children’s literature, folk
tales and our collective unconscious.
Here she has seamlessly included
a small furry creature nestling or
emerging from the creases of a
chintzy comfortable armchair. It
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seems to have found refuge here
near the hearth.
In contrast to the grand rooms
upstairs, the Housekeeper’s room
is cosy and full of heart-warming
pictures of animals. This represents
a gentle and domestic relation to
pets and farm animals, which is yet
another form of idealisation.
Bell Room Passage
Rachel
Goodyear
Boy with Net
Broken Branch
From the series ‘Dawn Chorus’.
Edition of 25
Soft ground etching with hand
colouring
Courtesy the Artist and Pippy
Houldsworth, London
Standing Dogs
Pencil and watercolour on paper
Courtesy Tim Blanks
Rachel Goodyear’s intricate and
compelling drawings, operate in
an imagined dream-like world. She
examines the role that animals play
in our imaginations and the rich
associations that they hold for us.
With exquisite attention to detail,
her work could be natural science
illustrations. Indeed the characters
that populate her work are acutely
observed and strangely familiarthe pipistrellle bats breeding at
Attingham, the common crow or the
Berwicks’ pet dogs- and yet there is
something curious and unsettling in
the way they are presented.
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Steward’s Room
Des Hughes
East Colonnade
Henry Krokatsis
Do You Think of
Me Often
Watercolour
Study for Meadow Arts
Commission 2011
Des Hughes’ sculpture on the
mile walk clearly responds to
Attingham’s dog walking presence.
This preparatory study for the work
shows how he also drew inspiration
from Attingham’s collection.
Mirroring the painting of a dog
with a fish in its mouth, in this
watercolour the dog is chewing on
what looks like a human hand.
(Incorruptible) Fawn
Silicone
Courtesy the Artist
Fawn references the state known
as incorruptibility- a spiritually
pure being whose body does not
decompose. Henry Krokatsis has cast
a dead fawn in an ultra high-quality
supple non bio-degradable silicone.
This material (used in implants) is
calculated to resist degradation for
over a thousand years.
This work draws attention to the
common occurrence of still-birth
in deer herds, an event which
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mostly goes unnoticed as the dead
foetuses generally disappear in a
matter of days.
Synthetic Worlds
(Skytops)
Painted aluminium, mirrored acrylic,
blown glass, resin, found
porcelain figurines
Meadow Arts Commission 2011
On this synthetic ‘nest’, perch
a series of off-the-shelf ceramic
cockatoos that have been altered
by the Artist. These flightless birds
stand content but unseeing, their
vision interrupted by the skycoloured blown glass hoods which
cover their heads.
Both birds and ‘nest’ stand as exotic
and alien objects within the context
of the ‘natural’ woods. The piece
itself recalls the highly stylised
worlds of video games, avatars and
digital space.
A mass of welded hoops and
mirrored discs hangs from a
branch on the edge of Attingham’s
woodland. This floating
construction is a seductive and
complex structure, where real and
illusory spaces become confused.
Ruth Claxton’s work acknowledges
the value of the bird population at
Attingham and the Park’s status as
a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
But she also asks us to look again at
what is apparently natural. All the
landscape at Attingham is artificially
designed and constructed. By
making a work which looks like an
impostor, she argues that it is no
less constructed than the landscape
within which it is placed.
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The Parkland - Main Path
Ruth Claxton
The Parkland - Glasshouses
Tessa Farmer
The Interlopers
Insects, plant roots, eggshell, mouse skin, snail shells, polymer clay
Meadow Arts Commission 2011
Insect sized skeleton-fairies have
been gathering slimy creatures in a
pile but their motive is not entirely
clear; are they intent on letting
the pests run amock amongst the
delicious young plants grown by
Attingham’s attentive gardeners or
is this slimy mound their prey – to
be used as slaves or eaten later.
A feast occurs nearby; fairies
recline on cushions made from bee
abdomens and feast on ladybirds
and woodlice served in empty
snail shells. A dragonfly descends
towards the scene, ridden by
hungry fairies eager to join the
feast. Other fairies can be seen
flying away with a stolen egg,
hoisted in a net made from spindly
black St Marks flies.
Slugs, snails, caterpillars and other
pests have found their way into
the glasshouses at Attingham. Both
captivating and unnerving, Tessa
Farmer’s exquisitely crafted scenes
unfold in glass domes dotted
amongst the plants.
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Not content with the bounty from
the glasshouse and the hens, the
fairies have looked further afield,
and raided the nearby 18th century
bee house; they have captured
a swarm of bees and stolen a
precious chunk of honeycomb.
What will they do next ?
Do You Think of
Me Often
Meadow Arts Commission 2011
Des Hughes’ sculpture sits happily
on the riverside path, much used
by the numerous dog-walkers at
Attingham. This Mile Walk is the
main feature of Thomas Leggett’s
1770 landscape design.
There is also a deeper desire to
engage with the nature of our
The dog has strange but evocative
features. He is actually cast
from an assemblage of woollen
pieces of clothing that gives
him a distinctive texture and an
intriguing random shape. It follows
Des Hughes’ on-going sculptural
investigation into materials,
methods and traditions - like the
cast dog biscuits in the Mansion.
Artist’s impression
The intriguingly shaped dog is
peacefully chewing on something
that, on closer inspection, reveals
itself as a human hand. Des Hughes
invites us to enjoy role reversals
and puns; this is another variation
on biting the hand that feeds you
(see ‘Sculpture for Dogs’ in the
Mansion’s Inner Library).
relationships with pets. They
comfort us, depend on us and share
our life on our own terms. But they
were all once wild animals living
according to nature’s harshest
laws. The ancestor of this, and all
our beloved dogs, would not have
hesitated to eat us to survive.
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The Parkland - Mile Walk Riverside
Des Hughes
The Parkland - East Side of Mansion
Daphne Wright
Swan
Cast marble dust
Meadow Arts Commission 2007
Lying on a plinth between the
Mansion and the River Tern,
Swan seems a familiar and
classical figure, not out of place
in this harmonious landscape.
But this aesthetic impression is
fractured as soon as we realise the
swan is dead - the cast was taken
from a young male who died in a
swan sanctuary.
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The sculpture is facing a particular
point across the river where a
couple of swans have been nesting
for years. Every year, many of those
familiar with Attingham observe with
some trepidation to see whether the
offspring will be successful; a simple
observation that indicates how easily
humans can become emotionally
involved with animals.
29
Meadow Arts commissions new art works and produces temporary,
context responsive exhibitions, accompanied by vibrant education and
engagement programmes delivered with partner organisations. It is
currently delivering its exhibition programme in partnership with the
National Trust.
House of Beasts is the fourth Meadow Arts exhibition at a National Trust
property and follows Tell it to the Trees at Croft Castle, Give Me Shelter at
Attingham Park and Still Life at Hanbury Hall.
National Trust and Arts Council England have formed a partnership called
Trust New Art. They believe that placing high-quality and innovative
contemporary art within historic settings can inspire artists and audiences
and encourage new ways of looking at the work and the world.
House of Beasts is supported by Arts Council England, The Elmley
Foundation, The Ernest Cook Trust and delivered in partnership with the
National Trust
Meadow Arts is part of the Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.
Meadow Arts would like to thank:
Sarah Kay, Catriona Hughes, Mark Agnew,
Helen Royall, Catherine Turnbull, Kellie Scott,
Saraid Jones, Bob Thurston, Mike Bennett and
all of the National Trust staff at Attingham Park,
Tom Freshwater (National Trust), Arts Council England,
The Elmley Foundation, The Ernest Cook Trust,
The Mayor Gallery, Yoke & Zoom, Movement,
The Mytton & Mermaid Hotel, Neil Fowler,
Jamie Munro, Dominic Wallis, Henrietta Palmer,
Henry Byrne, Alex Johnson
Meadow Arts Board Members: Nicky Allen, Neal Brown,
Emma Bulmer, Mair Evans, Cynthia Morrison-Bell,
Nathaniel Pitt, Philippa Tinsley
30
House of Beasts, curated by
Anne de Charmant with
Louisa Mayor, Meadow Arts
Project Management by
Mandy Fowler with
Rebecca Farkas, Meadow Arts
The exhibition is accompanied
by an exciting education and
events programme, as well as
a public national symposium.
The symposium will explore the
cultural, philosophical and ethical
significance of human-animal
relations as portrayed in the
exhibition and will form part of the
Darwin Festival in Shrewsbury in
February 2012.
An exhibition of further works by
Robert Davies will take place from
3 April to 15 July 2012 at Acton Scott
Historic Working Farm, near Church
Stretton, Shropshire, SY6 6QQ
www.actonscottmuseum.com
tel: 01694 781307
For additional information about
the accompanying events please
see www.meadowarts.org
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new commissions by:
Ruth Claxton / Tessa Farmer
Tom Gallant / Des Hughes
Susie MacMurray / Sophie Molins
and works by:
Marcus Coates / Mat Collishaw
Robert Davies / Rachel Goodyear
Kathleen Herbert / Henry Krokatsis
Alastair Mackie / Kate MccGwire
Polly Morgan / Nina Saunders
Anj Smith / Hugo Wilson
Daphne Wright
Designed by Craig Cooper www.craigomatic.co.uk
Cover image © NTPL/John Millar
Meadow Arts Co. Ltd is registered in England and Wales 4888760
Charity no. 1125145
National Trust is a registered charity no. 205846
www.meadowarts.org
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/attinghampark
For a large print version please call 01584 891659