We featured London-based artist Polly Morgan on Your Gallery magazine earlier this summer when she was taking part in a group show called 'Reconstruction' at Sudeley Castle in the Cotswolds, curated by Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst, co-director of Gagosian, London. As she prepares for several exhibitions this autumn, Polly Morgan invited Dafydd Jones to her East End studio to photograph her putting the finishing touches on the new work she is making for her forthcoming contribution to a group show of emerging artists which opens at Bonhams in September.
Recently described as 'Britain's hottest bird stuffer,' Morgan studied taxidermy under George Jamieson, a legendary figure in the field, in order to create still lives whose subject is the preserved dead animal. Unexpected settings and unusual juxtapositions - a fox and a chandelier, a live chick on a dead pigeon - challenge us to rethink the cliched emotions associated with certain animals and to look at them with fresh eyes.
The show at Bonhams, called 'Sensory Material', is a three-day exhibition of contemporary art which explores the sensual interaction between the viewer and the object. It looks at the immediacy and dramatic impact of the work and the experience involved in seducing the viewer aesthetically. Other artists in the exhibition include: Zadok Ben David, Juan Fontanive, Jaime Gili, Marta Marcé, Zara Matthews, Amy McGann, Heather Meyerratken, Teresa Narduzzo, Janet Nathan, Sophie Plowden, Nina Saunders, Katie Scott, Jane Simpson, Julie Verhoeven, and Jane Wilbraham. Polly Morgan will be showing three pieces in a series called 'Why Do We Wake?' in which birds of varying shapes and sizes lie in the scoop of what appear to be melting spoons. We give you a sneak preview below.
Polly Morgan will also be exhibiting her work at Zoo Art Fair this October, on the T1+2 stand, and her work is currently on view, until 25 September, at Laz Inc in London's Soho. 'Reconstruction 1' at Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire (01242 602308), is on until October 31.
To contact Polly Morgan and find out about future projects, please visit her website, www.pollymorgan.co.uk
Exhibit 06 - Sensory Material
21-24 September 2006
For more information, please call 020 7468 8340 or email press@bonhams.com
Polly Morgan, from the series 'Why Do We Wake?'
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