B.

Four feet good, four feet and a long tail just kinda creepy...

Behind the scenes

I see that Australia's national maritime museum has just opened an exhibition entitled Fish in Australian Art.

L to R: Neon Fish, 2010, Deborah Halpern; Elthel King colouring a mounted specimen of a Queensland Groper, 1926, Australian Museum archives; Southern Pigmy Leatherjacket, 1801-1803, Ferdinand Bauer, Natural History Museum, London.

L to R: Neon Fish, 2010, Deborah Halpern; Elthel King colouring a mounted specimen of a Queensland Groper, 1926, Australian Museum archives; Southern Pigmy Leatherjacket, 1801-1803, Ferdinand Bauer, Natural History Museum, London.

It got me wondering about similar shows we might do here in New Zealand. If we had a bird theme, Bill Hammond would naturally have to have a special mention...

Bill Hammond Untitled 2000. Lithograph. Purchased, 2000Reproduced with permission

Bill Hammond Untitled 2000. Lithograph. Purchased, 2000
Reproduced with permission

Bill Hammond The Fall of Icarus 1995. Acrylic on canvas. Purchased, 1996Reproduced with permission

Bill Hammond The Fall of Icarus 1995. Acrylic on canvas. Purchased, 1996
Reproduced with permission

Bill Hammond Shag Pile 1994. Acrylic on fabric wallpaper. Purchased with the assistance of the Christchurch Art Gallery Trust and the Friends of the Christchurch Art Gallery, 2004/5. Reproduced with permission

Bill Hammond Shag Pile 1994. Acrylic on fabric wallpaper. Purchased with the assistance of the Christchurch Art Gallery Trust and the Friends of the Christchurch Art Gallery, 2004/5. Reproduced with permission

Whereas for a dog show, it might well be Juliet Peter in the spotlight...

Juliet Peter The Landlady's Dog. Lithograph.  Donated from the Canterbury Public Library Collection, 2001

Juliet Peter The Landlady's Dog. Lithograph.  Donated from the Canterbury Public Library Collection, 2001

Juliet Peter North Canterbury Pastoral Scene 1943. Oil on canvas. Judith Willet Ensor bequest, 2006

Juliet Peter North Canterbury Pastoral Scene 1943. Oil on canvas. Judith Willet Ensor bequest, 2006

Juliet Peter Facades, W.9. Lithograph. Purchased 1992.

Juliet Peter Facades, W.9. Lithograph. Purchased 1992.

Juliet Peter Poodles. Lithograph. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery.

Juliet Peter Poodles. Lithograph. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery.

For sheer weirdness value though, I'd love to see Wallabies in New Zealand Art. With the first (maybe only?) participant our own Sam Harrison, whose plaster and chicken wire versions are currently hanging around in Render at our gallery space above NG.

Sam Harrison Wallaby 1  and 2 2011. Plaster and chicken wire. Courtesy of Sam Harrison and Fox Jensen Gallery.

Sam Harrison Wallaby 1  and 2 2011. Plaster and chicken wire. Courtesy of Sam Harrison and Fox Jensen Gallery.