The Art Newspaper

Hirst's day at the zoo

By The Art Newspaper. From In The Frame
Published online: 04 August 2010

Stuart Wright's Penguin and Food Divided

You’d think an aquarium would be the last venue that would celebrate an artist like Damien Hirst, but the newest exhibition at the Living Coasts zoo in Torquay off the Devon coast pays tribute to the infamous shark-pickler, who is currently showing his Mother and Child Divided in the exhibition “Tamed” at the nearby Torre Abbey (until 30 August). In response, the aquarium has created the sculptural piece Penguin and Food Divided, which according to director Elaine Hayes, “is a commentary on the circumstances that have led to the decline of African penguin populations in the wild.” Marketing manager Stuart Wright, who has a degree in fine art and made the pieces himself, said: “This sculpture presents two industrial, man-made boxes, one containing an African penguin with a chick and the other their typical food source. Isolated and separated by these angular containers, the characters depict the struggle that these animals face every day.” But worry not, animal lovers, no penguins were harmed for this art, the zoo opting to use plush toys instead of preserved specimens.