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Big Cat Sculptures Prowl to Preserve an Endangered Leopard

With only 60 left around the world, Amur leopards need all the help they can get. Lucky for them, they have a friend in artist Arran Gregory.
Photos: Michelle Beatty

The Amur Leopard needs help. Found in the Russian Far East and northern borders of China, there are an estimated 60 left around the world. Luckily, the big cat serves as the inspiration and aspiration of English artist Arran Gregory's first major solo exhibition at the Old Truman Brewery in London. Hunt features 20 handmade, reflective, life-sized leopard statues that resemble the liquid metal shape shifting T-1000 Terminator from T2 Judgement Day, and somewhere we think James Cameron is nodding his head in approval.

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The show also features four large scale canvas paintings depicting rigid geometric black outlines of these animals, as well as a collection silk screen prints of his sculptures out photographed out in the wild. Is it possible that the show’s title is an allusion to big game poaching, one of the main threats to the species survival? The press release writes, “Arran Gregory plays with shape, form and color (or lack of) in order to deconstruct and question our place within nature.” Gregory sets up this exhibition with a real emphasis on display and presentation. His sculptures are scattered across an open room like cars at an auto show. The works resemble a collection of rare gems, like the crown jewels in the Tower of London, or diamonds at Tiffany's. Their jagged, multifaceted forms, in addition to their reflective surfaces, present them as invaluable objects that are becoming increasingly scarce, like the animals themselves.

Check out some images from the show below:

Hunt is on display at The Old Truman Brewery from October 15th-18th. A portion of the proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to the Amur Leopard & Tiger Alliance, as well as the Long Live South Bank campaign. Click here for more from Arran Gregory.

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