The Cow Goes Moo

Although Dykhuis quickly formed “the core” of the show—Mark, Tonia Di Risio, Mitchell Wiebe, and Barbara Berry—he had trouble selling the idea.

“Nobody touched it. They didn’t tell me they thought it was a silly idea, but I got the sense from people that it was just light subject matter. It was an idea that four years ago was a little ahead of it’s time, but at this point it’s really piqued people’s curiosity.”

The idea stuck though, and when Dykhuis became director at Dalhousie he “beefed” up the budget and “went hunting” for more artists. Now realized, Dykhuis says the show is “a zoo in terms of species type of artwork.” Along with videos from Jan Peacock, Corinna Schnitt, Kelly Mark and American legend William Wegman, Exalted Beings has painting, sculpture, and audio works—not to mention a stuffed bear.

“We’re always laughing at Bugs Bunny and Road Runner. But that’s not always funny. It’s the same with David Harper‘s work. When you look at this taxidermy bear with its sad pathetic eyes you’re kind of sucker punched into feeling something when there’s there actually some strong cultural statements being made at the same time.”

With works like Michael Fernandes’ Hey, you wanna Buy a Monkey?, Dykhuis admits the show contains, “a certain amount of pointed humour, but it makes you think twice about the assumption about why something is funny.”

“People will find at least one or two of these projects if not all eleven to be completely thought provoking, and that’s all I’m trying to do.”

Exalted Beings: Animal Relationships will be on display from Fri August 22nd – Sat October 5th at The Dalhousie Art Gallery.

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