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News Ever wondered how a gorilla sees the world?  From March 3 through April 4, a selection of paintings by lowland gorillas, Koko and Michael - two of the gorillas in residence at The Gorilla Foundation - were on display at the Olive Hyde Gallery in Fremont, California.The exhibited paintings - originals and high-quality reproductions - represented a favorite creative outlet for Koko and Michael, participants in the longest ongoing study of interspecies communication. Working for over 26 years with Foundation co-founders, Dr. Francine "Penny" Patterson and Dr. Ronald Cohn, both gorillas have learned to communicate with humans via sign language. Through their creative use of language and their paintings, Koko and Michael offer an unprecedented glimpse into their lives and minds, their joys, frustrations and anxieties that they encounter in daily life. "They have been asked to paint emotions, such as love and anger, and produced startling vibrant representations of these feelings. Both gorillas have painted objects from memory, and both have painted objects in their immediate surroundings," said Dr. Patterson. "Michael's Toy Dinosaur is a wonderful example of his creativity. He selected the colors of his toy tyranosaurus rex, painted on his canvas, then turned it over and pressed it to the floor, creating a knobby texture much like the spikes all over the dinosaur." One of the most astounding examples of these visual representations is Michael's piece self-titled Apple Chase. "Michael used to love to play chase with his longtime companion Apple, a black and white setter who also resided at the Gorilla Foundation," recounts Dr. Patterson. "The colors he selected and the image portrayed are very touching, and all the more powerful because he created this portrait of Apple from memory. Apple was not in the room." A selection of rarely seen photos by The Gorilla Foundation's co-founder and award-winning photographer, Dr. Ronald Cohn, was also displayed at this exhibit. "These portraits and photographs have a remarkable intimacy that no one but Ron could achieve," said Dr. Patterson. "The gorillas grew up with him, and are willing to share sides with him that no other photographer would be privy to!" This was the first time Dr. Cohn's photos had been exhibited along with the gorillas' paintings. While Michael's artwork has appeared at several stateside gallery exhibits in recent years, Koko's has appeared only in Hawaii, and at The Terrain Gallery in San Francisco. The Olive Hyde Gallery exhibit featured several new and never-before-seen paintings, as well. Related web sites: Gorilla Art |
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