LOUISE MCNAUGHT: EDGE OF EXISTENCE

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 One of the UK’s most exciting contemporary artists, Louise McNaught, is exhibiting her new solo show Edge of Existence at London’s prestigious Curious Duke gallery this April. 
Opening on 6th April, this exhibition develops the themes explored in her previous solo show, Survival, where she began to look at the plight of endangered species. Quickly realising this was a topic too broad to be covered in a single show, Louise now expects this to become a body or work that spans several years - and one that will evolve over time:
“This current show, Edge of Existence, features some lesser-known endangered species like the beautiful secretary bird and the scalloped hammerhead shark, as well as some of the more well-known endangered animals.” she explains.
“I also included a unicorn in this show as it makes a statement that some of these animals will essentially become like unicorns - existing in our minds but no longer in reality.”
One of the key aims of this new work is to shine a light on the sheer breadth of animals that are now endangered. In striving to achieve this, she’s sought new ways of looking at these animals, developing her artistic technique in the process: 
“I wanted to draw attention to the whole spectrum of endangered animals so there are tiny endangered butterflies like the stunning British Blue Butterfly right up to the Black Rhino, which are enormous!”, she recounts.
“I wanted to show how beautiful each animal is. For example, I’ve focused on just the wings of the White Admiral Butterfly, and blown them up very big so people can see their iridescence in detail, and the Black Rhino has been depicted in intense detail in a large scale of the face, so the viewer can see the 'baked-earth' like skin.”
This intriguing new body of work will be on display between , at Curious Duke Gallery, five minutes walk from Old Street tube. 
Work starts from £200, and because the gallery has a sister framing business, framing can be arranged there and then for an additional fee if required.