Haunch of Venison: Mythologies

At the weekend I trundled on down to 6 Burlington Gardens, which shares a building with the Royal Academy of Art. The contemporary gallery Haunch of Venison has taken temporary residence in this stunning building, with it's exhibition 'Mythologies'.

'Turning the 21,500 square feet gallery into a giant cabinet of curiosities, 'Mythologies' will feature work by over 40 international artists, including major figures such as Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Sophie Calle, Christian Boltanski, Tony Cragg, Kiki Smith, Bill Viola, Keith Tyson, Simon Patterson and Damien Hirst, alongside emerging talents such as Carlos Amorales, Jamie Shovlin and Nicholas Hlobo.'

Taxidermy and the idea of a 'cabinet of curiosities' has always appealed to me (and here) - I have two framed butterflies hung on my bedroom wall, the backdrop for my computer is an image of a flamingo head I took at the Natural History Museum and I also have fond memories from my childhood of running to my neighbours house to examine his collection of cased insects and stuffed deer heads. Some may find this obsession with dead creatures bizarre and morbid but to me they are fantastical, and simply beautiful!

Although the exhibition is not for the faint-hearted, there is a lot more to it than preserved animals. It explores the buildings previous occupation as the Museum of Mankind, reflecting on the museums original ambition to explain the world and its many cultures. This is obvious as you wander round (picking your jaw up from the floor) as there are over 40 different artists work on display, all showing their unique take on the theme of Mythology.

If anyone has a few hours to spare in London, I strongly recommend you visit this exhibition. It blew my socks off, and I'm sure it will yours. Oh and did I mention, it's FREE! I don't think there's a more perfect way to spend a recession trodden Saturday. It's only on until April 26th, so get your skates on.

Some of you have been asking me to post images of my Uni work. I have posted about it before, so I won't bore you again...but the link is here. The more time goes by, the less I like my final collection. I am proud to have accomplished what I did, however with the knowledge and experience I have now this work looks rather amateur. Never quite satisfied eh?!