RYAN MCLENNAN – ABOMINATIONS
2011-10-31McLennan’s acrylic and graphite on paper works depict the animal kingdom exclusively. But don’t be surprised if the subjects’ “bad behavior” has an uncanny familiarity. Though the birds, snakes, rodents, and elk carry the authenticity of a dedicated naturalist and master draftsman, their actions are pure allegory for human motives and behavior, some of it of the worse sort. Without resorting to anthropomorphizing these four-legged, winged, or slithering creatures, McLennan transposes human motives onto carefully researched animal behavior, and in the process he reveals just how common those links may be.
Abominations takes up universal questions, such as speculating on the existence of God and what it means to be moral. In the large work The Immortal, an elk with an impressive rack is pinned by a tree branch into a peculiar, torture-like pose against a white background. On and about him are smaller creatures, hummingbirds and rats, that appear to relish in the great beast’s suffering. Or perhaps they’re merely rubbernecking, taking in the tragic fall of the mighty with relief but also a little schadenfreude.
Opposite – Fit for the Table, 2011
Exhibition runs through to November 18th, 2011
Joshua Liner Gallery
548 West 28th Street
3rd Floor
New York
NY 10001
