Animal Collective


Seraphin Gallery takes a walk on the wild side.


By Roberta Fallon 
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted May. 19, 2009

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Buck wild: Bonnie Brenda Scott’s paintings on target practice sheets depict ghostlike images of animals.

Through the years, artists have devoted gallons of paint and tons of plaster, clay and metal to the depiction of animals. “My Dog Speaks” at Seraphin Gallery is a mixed-media exhibit featuring work by 13 artists. Each piece was created using animals as the central figure. Through the work, the artists highlight the relationship between humans and wildlife—ranging from beloved pets to untamed beasts.


Darla Jackson’s small sculpture of a sleeping deer on a white pedestal feels as mythological as a unicorn, only far more vulnerable. 


Bonnie Brenda Scott painted images of ghost animals, crystals, clouds and words like “PLEASE” and “TROUBLE” on hunters’ target practice sheets. Around the sheets, Scott painted a mural of writhing animals, and the effect is shamanistic—as if the artist were attempting to dispel evil spirits. The mural is a powerful work in a quiet show—weird for its colors (pink and 
orange) and for its evocation of smoke, viscera and tortured souls.


Sarah McEneaney’s pet portraits are on the other side of the spectrum. Dog Heaven imagines the best, greenest dog park ever for her beloved dead pets and those of her friends, all lovingly depicted while playing. 


Likewise, Laura McKinley’s Shilly-Shally is a straightforward portrait of a serious young woman in a black-and-white striped shirt holding two nearly identical black and white cats. Perhaps a deadpan family portrait, the work is a contemporary update on early American portraits by Ammi Phillips, who loved to show children and animals in her work.


Alina Josan and Amanda Miller’s collaborative altar pieces are lovely and spiritual in their leanings. Caitlin Emma Perkins’ drawing of a singing mouse and Anne Canfield’s drawing of cats steering a gondola are both picture-book-perfect evocations of imaginary animal friends. 


“My Dog Speaks” contains 26 original pieces and runs through June 9. ■


For more on the Philadelphia art scene go to theartblog.org

“ My Dog Speaks. ” Through June 9. Seraphin Gallery,
1108 Pine St. 215.923.7000. seraphingallery.com


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