There exhibition many of us were waiting for since last year is finally opening at the Kenosha Public Museum! It is a dazzling design by Nick Regester and Alanna Magovern dedicated exclusively to artwork representing Archaeopteryx and its dramatic development and study as probably the most famous fossil in History and includes artwork of artists of the stature of Julius Csotonyi, Gary Staab, William Stout, Mark Hallett, Dennis Wilson and I feel privileged to be in such compelling (and legendary) company. There’s a very good gallery of images at Silver Plume Exhibitions… but since we are here I can show you some pictures of my own part of the display… Every artists section is the same, although obviously there are space differences.especially with respect of the work of the sculptors… It emphasises the fact that this is more than anything an art exhibition, with some personal memorabilia from the artists including old sketches and even some childhood art (bit embarrassing, but hey, at least it made my parents happy in those ages…)!
It also includes some original acrylics and inks on board artwork, contrasting with its digital development…Archaeopteryx as it was in 2000 (using as inspiration a photograph of a Hoatzin chick struggling to climb to safety) and as it finally is now, after lots of tugging and shoving with researchers like Jakov Vinther and Nick Longrich!
But what I set up to specially do for this landmark itinerant exhibition was the mural (that unfortunately for reasons of space could not be life size!). In it I wanted to reflect the multiple sizes and astounding shapes of Archaeopteryx maniraptoran relatives… From Archaeopteryx itself to Confuciusornis, a flying Cathayornis, Ichthyornis, Anchiornis, Tröodon, Velociraptor, Deinonychus, Microraptor, Bambiraptor, Sinornithosaurus finishing off with a cut-off Utahraptor that is trying to get away from everything. This mural includes an interactive touch screen where kids can select each animal and learn about their scientific facts. Needless to say, the amount of work Alanna and Nick have put in this exhibition is monumental and the results are nothing but outstanding. The slick and carefully displayed pieces are a joy to watch and on top of that… you have perfect casts of ALL the Archie specimens to behold!
Thanks to everybody involved and specially Alanna and Nick for making this such a memorable event.
