The Poplar Bestiary

About

It features the work of Kirsten Glass, Kris Lock, Eleanor Moreton, Tamsin Morse, Casper Scarth, Nahem Shoa, Jennet Thomas, Jeanine Woollard, Zatorski + Zatorski.

A compendium of descriptions, allegorical stories and illustrations of animals, both real and mythical, the bestiary blended natural history, religious doctrine and moral teachings. The creatures of bestiaries often represented moral virtues or vices, while their origin stories often echoed those from the Bible – such as the lion, who is born dead but has life breathed into him by its father on the third day, evoking the Resurrection of Christ. Famous British examples include the Cambridge, Ashmole and Aberdeen Bestiaries.

But what do animals represent for us today, in an age of post-human thinking in which we fear losing that which makes us human? Our relationship to animals encompasses the contradictions of human morality: we eat, hunt and fear some animals, while we tame, pet and revere others. The depictions of animals in The Poplar Bestiary carry traces of their ancient religious, mythological and moral symbolisms, mixed with modern hopes, fears and desires. Animals in art are often used as a stand-in for human emotion, and even the artist themselves. Anthropomorphism offers a means of representing those aspects of human behaviour and experience – the violence, sadness and joy of human life – that we struggle to articulate. In this, depictions of animals symbolise the human quest for survival at its most primal. Yet there is a cartoonishness about many of the beasts in The Poplar Bestiary that acknowledges the fine line between allegory and cliché, as with the wise owl, faithful dog and noble lion of countless children’s stories and cartoons.

Like ancient bestiaries, the lexicon of beasts in The Poplar Bestiary draws from real, fictional and imaginary sources, displayed here in the form of painting, drawing, collage, photography, sculpture and props from a post-apocalyptic film.

About TondoCosmic

TondoCosmic is an artist-run project, established by Jo Chate and Tamsin Morse. We host satellite exhibitions in unusual locations, presenting work by artists that we admire and who are typically underrepresented in the commercial gallery field. We are currently in residence at Making Space in Aberfledy Village, Poplar.

Guest co-curator Dr Jennifer Thatcher is an art historian, critic and public programmes curator. She is currently a British Academy post-doctoral fellow, researching the history of artist interviews. Her co-edited (with Dr Lucia Farinati) volume, Theorising the Artist Interview, was recently published by Routledge. She co-curated the 2023 Folkestone Book Festival; the public programmes for the Folkestone Triennial (2014, 2017) and the Whitstable Biennale (2016); and was Director of Talks at the ICA, London (2003–10).