Meanwhile, back in New York, the real owls are being kept under wraps by those in the know, in order to protect their nesting from disturbance by avid fans.
At Gallery Hanahou, on the other hand, the owls are getting a lot of well-deserved publicity. Owls Have More Fun by designer Lisa Grue is aptly named – there are a lot of owls, and they’re a lot of fun. The birds are stylized in stark black and white, accented with vivid pink and yellow, and presented in a desire of contexts – enormous wallpaper designs, tiny little painted ceramic plates – with cryptic messages. The theme, beyond the obvious, is a feminist desire to see young girls embrace cleverness and wisdom – not just cuteness – as a driving force in life. I certainly can’t argue with that.
It’s always interesting to me to see how people who aren’t naturalists or scientists or specifically nature-oriented artists nevertheless connect with nature in their work. The show is running through March 26, so if you’re in NYC, consider checking it out!
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March 13, 2010 at 6:18 am
Owls seem particularly good for connecting with non-birders.
March 18, 2010 at 9:11 pm
The IT agrees!
March 16, 2010 at 9:56 am
Cleverness, when applied propperly, can be very cute.
I find it quite interesting that owls in art are mostly depicted as horned / eared owls, and most non-birders would draw an owl with feather ears. I suppose the little hint of something “devilish” gives them the mysterious element that non-birders (and most birders alike) find so special about these birds.
The art work is very nice (although I am not sure the neon pompoms help), thanks for bringing it to my/our attention.
March 18, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Yeah, it seems like popular non-birding depictions of owls are almost always eared owls, except when they are Snowy Owls (more popular since Harry Potter).
Old Brown in The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin was a non-eared owl (I think a Tawny Owl?), but of course Beatrix Potter was a proper naturalist.
March 19, 2010 at 9:54 am
Sadly I don’t know the story of Old Brown and Squirrel Nutkin – yet (I just looked it up on Wikipedia) as we have mostly different children’s books and stories in Germany compared to the English-speaking part of the world.
Judging by the illustrations, Old Brown is definitely an ear-less Tawny Owl.
I sometimes wonder if Hedwig has forwever altered the British (or international) youth’s perception of owls. Like the Milka (chocolate) commercials that depicted a lilac cow and led to most city-confined children thinking all cows were indeed lilac in colour, will today’s youth think of all owls as being large and white?
Maybe we should ask 10,000 Birds to publish an inquiry asking bird guides and guided nature walks leaders if this has ever come up during one of their walks or trips.