Animal Instinct, Pangolin London, exhibition review: ‘Majestic and compelling’
Heather Jansch’s horses are ‘captivating’. Photograph: courtesy of the artists / Pangolin London / Steve Russell Studios
Sculpture gallery Pangolin has extended its popular exhibition Animal Instinct until 26 April.
The show gathers the work of a range of contemporary sculptors who have chosen to depict the animal world.
You are bound to be captivated by Heather Jansch’s majestic renderings of horse’s heads in driftwood-shaped bronze, but your attention will also be drawn to the compelling bird-themed pieces, including Charlotte Mayer’s Crow and Anita Mandl’s Emperor Penguin with Chick.
The show features ‘easily-recognisable species’. Photograph: courtesy of the artists / Pangolin London / Steve Russell Studios
It is possible to read moral lessons in some of what is on show.
Isaac Okwir’s Buffalo with Egrets & Oxpecker provides a salutary reminder of the symbiosis so common in the natural world, while Michael Cooper’s elegiac Polar Bear offers testimony to the awe-inspiring elegance of a species under threat.
Not all modern sculpture is accessible to those without specialist knowledge of art, but this engaging exhibition of easily-recognisable species is definitely one that will be of interest to a wide audience.
Animal Instinct runs until 26 April at Pangolin, 90 York Way, N1 9AG.