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The Brutal Art of Extinction (Gallery)
The U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and artist Brandon Ballengée, contributed these images to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
With support from the NEA, Brandon Ballengée uses his experience in biology and his training in art to convey the human impact on nature. Below are images from some of Ballengee's recent exhibitions, and a few of the artist, and you can read more about his work in his interview Framing the End: Extinction as Art.
Pacific tree frog
DFA 186: Hadēs By Brandon Ballengée 2012 Unique digital-C print on watercolor paper 46 x 34 in Cleared and stained Pacific tree frog collected in Aptos, California in scientific collaboration with Stanley K. Sessions. From the series Malamp. (Credit: Courtesy the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY.)
RIP Great Auk
RIP Great Auk: After John Gould By Brandon Ballengée 1873/2014 Artist cut and burnt hand-colored lithograph "Pl. 55 Alca Impennis" drawn by John Gould and depicted on stone by H.C. Richter from The Birds of Great Britain, Volume 5 published by John Gould in 1873. 13.5 inches by 20.5 inches. From the series The Frameworks of Absence (Credit: Courtesy the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY.)
The Birds of Great Britain
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The Frameworks of Absence By Brandon Ballengée 2006-Ongoing Artist-cut and burnt historical artifacts. Installed at The Armory Show, 2015. (Credit: Photo by Casey Dorobek.)
Insect hideway
Love Motel for Insects: Lough Boora Variation By Brandon Ballengée Summer 2010 2 by 30 meters Outdoor installation with: Black Ultra-violet lights, wood, fabric, invited insects. Installed at Sculpture in the Parklands, Lough Boora, Ireland. (Credit: Photographs by Kevin O’Dwyer.)
The man
Artist and biologist Brandon Ballengée. (Credit: Courtesy the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY.)
A lost species
DP 5: Jacobine. By Brandon Ballengée 2003/09 30.25 x 22.5 inches Unique pigmented ink prints on watercolor paper. From the series A Habit of Deciding Influence. (Credit: Courtesy the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY.)
Urns
The Frameworks of Absence By Brandon Ballengée 2006-Ongoing Funerary urns, ashes. (Credit: Photo by Michael Ahn.)
A wall of ashes
The Frameworks of Absence By Brandon Ballengée 2006-Ongoing Funerary urns, ashes. Installed at The Armory Show, 2015. (Credit: Photo by Casey Dorobek.)
Specimens
Collapse By Brandon Ballengée 2012 Mixed-media installation including 26,162 preserved specimens representing 370 species. Glass, Preffer and Carosafe preservative solutions. 12 x 15 x 15 feet. In collaboration with Todd Gardner, Jack Rudloe, Brian Schiering and Peter Warny. Installed at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY, 2012. (Credit: Photo by Varvara Mikushkina.)
Preserving failures
Collapse (Detail) By Brandon Ballengée 2012 Mixed-media installation including 26,162 preserved specimens representing 370 species. Glass, Preffer and Carosafe preservative solutions. 12 x 15 x 15 feet. In collaboration with Todd Gardner, Jack Rudloe, Brian Schiering and Peter Warny. Installed at Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2014. (Credit: Photo by David O. Brown.)
Lost, but found samples
Apparitions: Chamarande Variation By Brandon Ballengée Installation with historic "lost" taxidermy specimens borrowed from Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris, France. Installed at Chateau du Domaine de Chamarande, Chamarande, France, 2013. (Credit: Courtesy the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY.)
Sobering image
Touch of Light in the foggy Night that reverberates the Desire calls Death, Madness, Motionless… Voluptuousness rounded in an arch bombed…. By Brandon Ballengée 2010/12 85.5 x 70 in. Unique digital Chromogenic print. In scientific collaboration with Stanley K. Sessions with titles from a poem by KuyDelair. From the series A Season in Hell. (Credit: Collection of Museum Het Domein, Sittard, Netherlands.)
Taking chances
Brandon Ballengée with a snapping turtle. (Credit: Courtesy the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY.)
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