Dead or Alive: Nature as Art

During a recent trip to New York I had the pleasure of stopping into the Museum of Arts & Design for a much anticipated show - Dead or Alive: Nature Becomes Art. Naturally I was drawn to this exhibit because of it's focus on organic materials which were once produced by or part of living organisms - feathers, bones, egg shells, insects, fur, antlers, dried and rotting plants. Once-living parts of flora and fauna were recombined and rearranged into works of art that address the transience of life, and examines beauty in the extreme.

Here a large cascade of 1000's of pigeon feathers emanate from one of MAD's signature glass bands that cut across the gallery ceilings (Kate McGcwire)

Levi van Veluw’s photo series are self-portraits, drawn and photographed by himself: a one-man-process. His works constitute elemental transfers; this youngest artist of the exhibition uses his own head and shoulders as a canvas on which to build natural landscapes.

Some favorites were the skulls by Jan Fabre which use actual Jewel beetle, click beetle and ground beetle shields on synthetic material to create these beautiful sculptures. The texture and colors of actual beetle shells are just amazing, I could look at them for hours.