Polly Morgan - Foundations and Remains

The Office gallery is delighted to present the most recent work from the controversial, British artist/taxidermist Polly Morgan titled ‘FOUNDATIONS AND REMAINS’. Since 2005 the London based artist has managed to create a visual language of her own through the use of animals as raw materials of her work and their placement as protagonists in scenes that are unnatural to them.

Though her peculiar work, she is forcing us to look at the animals used, as if for the first time, free from previous associations; deliberately challenging the fragile relationship between humans and animals.

The major work of the exhibition titled ‘FOUNDATIONS/REMAINS’ has been made using 2428 cast crow femurs that are each painted by hand. The glue used is identical in colour to the fat present in the joints of bones, so it bears the same colour and consistency of a real animal skeleton. This work is inspired by Charnel Houses (Ossuaries) which were decorative buildings essentially used to pile high skeletons in order to save space. The structure was built using plans from Sol Lewitt's spiral tower “Untitled” 1989. Polly Morgan will also present nest drawings, made using a particular technique she developed to draw with the cremated ash from birds that are subsequently placed on top of the frames.

Polly Morgan was born in 1980. She studied English at Queen Mary, University of London. Started working as an artist in 2005. Her love of animals led her to train in taxidermy with George Jamieson. Since then she creates still lives with the animal as subject. Selected presentations of Polly Morgan's work include ‘BURIALS’ - Workshop Arte Contemporanea, Venice 2011, ‘PSYCHOPOMPS’ - Haunch of Venison Gallery, London 2010, ‘YOU DIG THE TUNNEL, I'LL HIDE THE SOIL’ - White Cube, 2008. She is one of the most collectable contemporary artists of her time.

The animals she uses are donated by pet owners and vets after natural or unpreventable death, or are road casualties. Polly Morgan is a member of the UK Guild of Taxidermists.