Back in 1992 I was at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London getting my Public Art degree. For my thesis I explored the issues concerning zoos. During this journey I discovered a gallery that was showing some interesting abstract work. When I realized these pieces were executed by chimpanzees and gorillas I was amazed and intrigued. This led me to a chimp sanctuary in Leicestershire call Twycross Zoo. This zoo houses many former performer chimps that have been used in commercials and movies. The chimps paint in their human like environment for the same reason we paint in our human zoo, for pleasure and escape! I encouraged the zoo owner to allow me the chance to paint with this 4 year old chimp named Flynn. (Pictured below without the green shirt) It was so interesting to watch him with full concentration choose his colors carefully and with deliberate strokes he applied the paint to create some really compelling pieces. One looked like a chimp on his mother’s back strolling through the forest. The other resembled a luscious forest adorned with colorful fruit. Painting with Flynn raised many questions about art and our close relationships with animals. Hey I could go on, however my thesis was very long! One great fact is that when I was painting with Flynn back in 1992 I was told that I was the 2nd artist in the UK to have painted with a chimp and felt really honored for this opportunity.
