Aiming to elevate taxidermy to high art, Art Zoo opens Thursday in the heart of the Dutch capital, in a famous building from the 17th century, a period that inspired the two artists that created the show.
In that period, Dutch Golden Age painters drew inspiration from brightly coloured parrots, big cats, and exotic animals captured in distant colonies and brought back to Europe to great amazement.
A stuffed swan with wings deployed in defensive posture is a nod to “The Threatened Swan” by Golden Age master Jan Asselijn, currently hanging in the Rijksmuseum nearby.
He has been working with colleague Jaap Sinke for more than a decade as taxidermy-artists -- a world away from the advertising industry where the two men met more than 20 years ago.
“You’re a little bit sculptor, you’re a little bit surgeon, you’re a little bit hairdresser and you’re a little bit painter,“ he said.
In other exhibits, majestic tigers are displayed poised to attack, while birds of prey grip long snakes in their claws.
“None of the animals in our taxidermy artworks were taken from the wild or bred specifically for the Art Zoo Museum. All died of natural causes, under the care of zoos and breeders.”
“In a city where everything is becoming bigger, more high-tech, and part of a chain, this museum offers an intimate space in the city centre where the art of taxidermy is celebrated in all its beauty,“ said Krook.
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