15 Jan 08

Hernando Osorio uses a number of techniques to depict the animal kingdom.

Life in the Wild, a new exhibition of woodcuts and drawings of animals is now on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The exhibition displays the work of Hernando Osorio, who uses linocut, etching, woodcut, lithograph, ink drawing and oil on sand to canvas to represent animals and primitive symbols. His work is held in a number of public and private collections around the world including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, New York Public Library and the Library of Congress Print Collection in Washington DC.

The exhibition at the Museum of Natural History shows three different series of Hernando’s work, including ink on paper drawings; woodcuts on handmade Japanese paper showing endangered wild animals from the Amazonian rainforest and elsewhere; and also linocuts on handmade German paper depicting hunting scenes and other ancient dangers that animals have faced from man.

Commenting on his work Hernando Osorio said, ‘We still don’t understand the significance of each animal – the tiger and his skills or that the bird flies, or that the crocodile waits patiently in the water. Imagine talking about these animals as we now talk about unicorns and dragons.’ 

The exhibtion opened on 7 January and is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM until 27 February at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History on Parks Road.