GREENSBORO, NC.- Beauty of the Beast opened at GreenHill on May 4, 2018, running through July 15, 2018, introduces visitors to a world of beasts, who have captured the imagination of artists through the ages. This thematic exhibition explores the dualities of wild and tame, human and animal, as well as addressing the loss of animal habitats, animal cruelty and efforts to document and preserve species. Works featured include paintings, printmaking, drawing and sculptures inspired by all kinds of animals from aardvarks to zebras.

Creatures large and small transform GreenHill’s gallery into a wild space. A den of exquisitely carved polychrome snakes by Roy Nydorf covers one corner of the gallery while a colony of grey-headed flying foxes by Bryant Holsenbeck takes flight in another. Reflected in the work are topics of urban wildlife, embodied by a group of anthracite crow sculptures by Holsenbeck fabricated from trash and found materials; and scientific classification of animals as explored by Ingrid Erickson in her cut paper installation entitled Osteology Series, inspired by research at The Field Museum, Chicago. One room of the gallery harbors a life-size baby giraffe and an array of brightly colored tree frogs by Cara Bevan who will be on-hand to speak about her fabrication process in which dried gourds serve as the armatures for animal forms during festivities at Family Day on June 1.

GreenHill’s expansive gallery space lends itself to large thematic exhibitions like Beauty of the Beast, with the ability to showcase artists who are producing bodies of work in a particular domain and addressing similar ideas at the same moment in time. As the title of the exhibition suggests, the formal beauty and infinite variety of the animal kingdom informs all the works in the exhibition. Curator Edie Carpenter explains: “This exhibition grew out of the question: How does our relationship to animals define who we are and what kind of a world we would like to live in in the future?” Carpenter notes, “Man’s identification with animals and notions of domestic and wild are explored in many works. Others speak to the increasingly complex relationship between man and nature, and the fact that animals are on the frontline of societal change -- their fragile beauty threatened by human activity.”

Visitors can learn more from the complimentary visitor guide of animals in the exhibition as well as a scavenger hunt designed for young visitors. Guided tours are available with a reservation. Noted scholar, veterinarian and animal advocate Dr. Lucy Spelman will give a lecture in the gallery during GreenHill’s Annual Meeting on May 30.

Participating artists include Casey Allen, Tucker Bailey, Curtis Bartone, Cara Bevan, David Caldwell, Anne Covell, Ingrid A Erickson, Rebecca Fagg, Andy Farkas, Lisette Fee, Shane Fero, Heather D. Freeman, Carol Gentithes, Bruce Gholson, A. Dumay Gorham, III, Samantha Henneke, Bryant Holsenbeck, Nancy Jacobsohn, Jim Kransberger, Anne Lemanski, Angela Lombardi, Jan Lukens, Chris Musina, Amanda Nicholas West, Roy Nydorf, Marc Ouellette, Ippy Patterson, Emily Reason, Maia Stern, Jack Stratton, Isaac Talley, Charlie Tefft, Michael Van Hout, and Matt Zigler.