Pop-up gallerist Libby Sellers is showcasing the ‘Tidal Ossuary’ body of work by designer Julia Lohmann and partner Gero Grundmann. The exhibition comprises a series of covetable small vessels made from found animal bones collected from the banks of the River Thames.

TIDAL OSSUARY, 5th February – 4th March 2010

GALLERY LIBBY SELLERS

hosted by JACQUELINE RABUN GALLERY, 32 Grosvenor Crescent Mews, London SW1X 7EX (07774 113 813)

The series continues Lohmann and Grundmann’s investigations into the contradictions inherent in our relationship to animals as sources of food and materials. Tidal Ossuary is ‘an elegant collection of beastly origins’ – the bones used to make the vessels were chance finds along the banks of London’s River Thames.

The designers’ investigations into the origins of the bones and their displacement on the banks of the Thames suggests that they are 19th Century waste that was thrown into London’s Victorian sewer system and turned out into the river. Given the Thames pathway’s proximity to London’s Smithfield meat market and the underground waterways that link the market to the river, the designers believe the bones to be by-products of the Victorian meat industry.

Their fascination with the waste lies in the resonant histories inherent in the bones and the many evocative narratives that they trigger. Once deemed as rubbish, these remnants of meals long past have survived beyond their supposed use-by-date and have now been returned to objects of use and worth. Typically for Lohmann and Grundmann this questioning of value systems – in which the overlooked and discarded are given new purpose and meaning – is paramount.

The series is an open edition of mixed materials including polished bone, silver, resin, and stainless steel.