No matter where you stand on the “taxidermy as art” debate, it is beyond question that some fascinating, dramatic and eerie work is being produced in the genre. The artist duo Les Deux Garçons is one of them, made up of the Netherlands-based duo of Michel Vanderheijden van Tinteren and Roel Moonen, who obtain humanely and ethically sourced (we checked) creatures from taxidermists and vets to craft their wondrous chimeras and fantastical Siamese twins (or in some cases, quadruplets).
Taxidermy can be creepy enough on its own, and the combination of animals that are stitched together and dressed with ribbons and tiny hats, or with animal heads mounted to vintage French-bisque porcelain statuary does not make the pieces any less unsettling. The sculptures bring to mind a whimsical European carousel ride or a “Little Golden” storybook crossed with something a little more unsettling like P.T. Barnum’s Fiji mermaid. The addition of the cockatoo head on the ceramic poodle toy and the Pieta created with infant monkeys both strike a particularly peculiar chord.
Despite the presentation of the animals, the surreal sculptures have gorgeously dark titles that translate into names like ‘The Bed of the Enemy,’ and ‘Impossible Escape.’ Even though these animals are wrapped with precious packaging, names like these make a sobering statements.
Reveling in the whimsically absurd as well as providing subtle commentary on the role of animals in mankind’s world, Les Deux Garçons fanciful beasts are both shocking and compelling at the same time.
