The Plumed Serpent at Louie Meager Art Gallery

Below is the text from the press release and gallery flyer for this 2008 show.

Fremont, CA—Anxiety about the environment touches us all. The fact that hundreds of species of animals vanish from the earth every year is a large part of that concern. We don’t know what we’re losing: scientists have not yet documented all of the earth’s species of birds. When the naturalist impulse to document is fused with an accomplished artist’s passion the end result is powerful art.

Ohlone College’s Louie Meager Art Gallery presents “The Plumed Serpent” an installation by David Tomb that features the large mixed media ornithological works by David Tomb complimented by an installation of plants and sound designed by the artist. This gallery wide installation is inspired by Tomb’s birding trips to Mexico and research from the California Academy of Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, and the Los Angeles Natural History Museum.

In the gallery Tomb recreates the sights and sounds of this Sierra Madre region. Large-scale drawings (11′X 8′) of birds in trees will be installed with actual trees and native vegetation. Bird specimens will be on loan from science institutions and recorded bird calls from western Mexico will fill the gallery to add to the atmosphere of this artistic and educational experience.

David Tomb and Ohlone College collaboration will extend beyond the gallery as well. In conjunction with the show, other Bay Area educators, and the artist will be giving a series of talks and workshops in Ohlone classrooms as well as the gallery. Dr. Gessica Johnston MD will be giving a talk on scientific illustration and Professor Phillip Hofstetter of CSEUB will be giving an art historical talk on how the exhibit relates to Mayan Art specifically in reference to the Quetzal (also known as the Plumed Serpent).

You can help! Electric Works Gallery in conjunction with El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve have released a series of limited edition prints by David Tomb inspired by his most recent trip to Mexico. Proceeds from the sale of the print go directly to El Triunfo Reserve.

Photography by Forrest Tanaka