![\"A](\"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/gorilla-painting.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAn ape cannot speak about his art
\nAnymore than a monkey can discuss a his digestion.
\nJacques Cocteau and Lynn Ruth<\/p>\n
In the late sixties, a gorilla won the Modern Art competition at the Detroit Museum of Art. The animals\u2019 owner put several tubes of paint and a blank canvas in the ape\u2019s cage.\u00a0 The furry artist, whom I shall call Sybil, stomped on the tubes of paint and smeared the colors on the canvas with her paws.\u00a0 After an hour, she tired of dancing and began eating the tubes of paint.\u00a0 Her owner pulled the canvas out of her cage, hosed Sybil down and was amazed at the finished canvas.\u00a0\u00a0 It reminded him of a combination of a Jackson Pollack with a smattering of Kandinsky, a dash of Picasso and traces of Klee.\u00a0 When Sybil\u2019s masterpiece dried, he varnished it, framed it and entered it in the museum\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n
To his delight, the painting won first prize.\u00a0 He bought a jeweled collar for Sybil, pinned a pink ribbon in her hair and brought her to the award ceremony. It was a little dicey getting her in the front door \u00a0but the owner insisted she was a service animal\u00a0 He managed to keep her from molesting the guests by feeding her bananas and bit of cadmium red. When they called his name to accept the award, Sybil joined him on stage. \u00a0He told the astounded judges that it was not he who created the masterpiece they so admired.\u00a0 It was his Sybil.<\/p>\n
Years later, I took a class with the fabulously talented realistic painter Joseph Sheppard and he told me that Sybil was indeed a magnificent talent.\u00a0 Indeed, he had joined her in her cage a few years after her triumph to raise money for the museum.\u00a0 Together they painted a still life that hangs now in that same museum.<\/p>\n
Evidently, gorillas not only paint, but they know what they are painting. Sister and brother gorillas Michael and Koko were taught sign language.\u00a0 As a result, Koko (the artist in the family) was able to explain to her curator Dr. Penny Patterson, that she had painted a bird.<\/p>\n
Just this past month, word is out that a zoo in North Dakota is selling the artwork of its 275 pound orangutan named Tal. His paintings are so colorful that they literally fly off the wall.\u00a0 The animal\u2019s favorite color is yellow and often he eats as much of the paint as he smears on his canvases. \u201cCould be because it looks like a banana,\u201d said the zoo\u2019s curator.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that creativity is fundamental in the ape psyche. The animals \u00a0love using crayons, pencils and finger paint although they prefer oils they can eat. Everyone knows that children have the same propensity to eat the colors they use to paint. I believe we can learn a lot from the apes and their ability to transform their creative efforts into funds that support their favorite institutions.\u00a0 I propose that we exhibit and sell all the paintings from local kindergarten classes to pay for amenities in their schools.\u00a0 Think of it! We would no longer have to pay taxes to support education!\u00a0 Our kindergartners would finance the system for us\u2026and who knows?\u00a0 There might be enough money left to reward the young artists with a few bananas.<\/p>\n
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ART IS GOING TO THE APES An ape cannot speak about his art Anymore than a monkey can discuss a his digestion. Jacques Cocteau and Lynn Ruth In the late…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[837],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-joe-cillo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"