On Saturday 11th November2023 , Velarde Gallery was proud to host artist Frances Gynn's tenth Public Erasure, of the European Hare. Opened by writer and presenter Jonathan Dimbleby and featured on BBC Spotlight the event was an interactive performance seeking to draw attention to the increased number of endangered species resulting from climate change, habitat loss and plastic pollution.
Titled After Durer’s Hare, Then and Now it is inspired by artist Albrecht Durer’s 1502 nature study of a young hare, whose population was plentiful at that time. Today the hare is under serious threat, with numbers thought to have declined by 80% since the late 19th Century.
Frances’ distinctive Public Erasure works are drawings of endangered animals, which the public are invited to erase as a metaphor for the loss of species. These interactive pieces seek to draw attention to the increasing number of endangered species worldwide, and to encourage debate, response, and the sharing of information.
Nine Public Erasures have been made to date, including the Spiny Seahorse at Royal West of England Academy in Bristol, the Grey Eared Bat at The Bath Assembly Rooms in Bath, the Slender-Billed Curlewat Studio KIND in Braunton, the Blue Ground Beetle at the Exeter Climate Hub, the Emperor Penguin, the Fairy Shrimp and the scarce Black Neck Moth at The Hide Studio in Kingsbridge, Wild and Honey Bees at the Bees for Development Garden Party at Marlborough House in London, and the Hedgehogat The Forest of Imagination exhibition at The Assembly Rooms in Bath.
Future Erasures will include: The Mountain Gorilla at The Victoria University in Kampala, Uganda, in December 2023, with a Big Erasure program to be held at The Uganda Museum, Kampala, The Makerere and Victoria Museums and various conservation parks at the end of 2024; The Act with Art Climate Festival in Newton Abbot in June 2024, and the Water Vole for The Habitat Group in Slapton, Devon in August 2024.
The partially erased and completed Beachcomber Beetle work was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2022.
