June 13 - 16 | Messe Basel, Messeplatz 10, 4005 Basel
“Once a dog barked at a mask I made; that was the most honourable comment I ever received.”
(Leonora Carrington in 'Commentary,' "Leonora Carrington: A Retrospective Exhibition," New York: The Center for Inter-American Relations, 1975, p. 23)
The works presented by Gallery Wendi Norris in "Leonora Carrington’s Bestiary" – in a wide range of media and from throughout the artist’s long career – are a testament to the gallery’s two decades-long relationship with Leonora Carrington. Gallery Wendi Norris collaborated with the artist on her last solo exhibition during her lifetime and has been championing her work and legacy since her death in 2011. Showcasing the diversity of Carrington’s artistic output and highlighting the role of animals within her oeuvre, "Leonora Carrington’s Bestiary" seeks to deepen the public’s appreciation and understanding of this unparalleled artist.
The animal kingdom served as one of the greatest sources of inspiration for Leonora Carrington. A fascination stemming from her childhood, animals were deeply influential in the development of Carrington’s imagination as a young artist and continued to serve as primary subjects over fifty years. The presentation will explore the role of animals in the oeuvre of Carrington: how the artist deployed them as agents of humor, figures of critique, and sources of camaraderie. One will encounter a world brimming with animalia, a veritable bestiary of both zoological forms and mythical creatures.
In Carrington’s ecology, animals are accorded equal status with their human counterparts. They appear as hybrid figures, totemic forms, surrogates selves, cosmic familiars, or protagonists in their own right. In "Edwardian Hunt Breakfast" (1956) Carrington sends up the genre of the hunting scene. The subjects of the hunt, painted in a spectral white, circle around a patrician hunting party composed of a motley ensemble of characters. The party’s blithe indifference to their surroundings and unawareness of the animals looking on raises the question of who, in fact, is the predator, and who is the prey. In "Portrait of Madame Dupin" (1947), Carrington portrays her subject as a statuesque figure with a black butterfly in lieu of a neck and head. Playing with the tradition of portraiture and the idea of hybridity, Carrington creates a symbolic portrait of her subject, using the butterfly to allude to aspects of her character rather than paint a conventional likeness. This commingling of creatures upends the dichotomy between man and beast and blurs the distinction between human subject and animal object.
Through her leveling of the species, Carrington calls into question the symbolic weight historically invested in animals. From Greek mythology to Aesop’s fables, the animal kingdom has been retrofitted to serve as ciphers for human morality, assuming human traits, flaws, and failings. Turning this tradition on its head, Carrington investigates the animal nature of humans: how we are, in fact, closer to our bestial brethren than we would care to admit.
The fair will take place June 13 - 16, 2024.