10 Works Of Art That Used Animals As The Canvas

Art has been evolving quite rapidly in the past few decades. There are more artists operating within various sub-genres than there have ever been in the history of the world. This level of artistic activity is bound to create a set of new mediums that no one is aware of. One of these hidden art forms is a highly controversial one that uses animals as canvases for artistic pieces. Animal rights activists say that this is a cruel form of art and needs to be avoided at all cost. Even though people are used as canvases in various art pieces, the argument remains that humans have at least provided their consent, while animals simply don’t have an option. Despite the controversy, several art pieces have emerged in this genre that are riveting. Here is a list of 10 works of art that used animals as the canvas.

Elephant Art

An annual festival in the Indian city of Jaipur revolves around decorating Elephants and pachyderms with bright colors and flowing drapes.

Horse Inside Out

Artist Gillian Higgins combines his artistic ability and anatomical knowledge to create a work of art that is called “inside out”. He paints the skeletal system and other systems of a horse on the body of the animal in order to create a fun way for people to understand anatomy, physiology and conditioning. According to the artist, this also increases the well-being and performance of the horse itself.

Snail Graffiti

Seeing snails travel slowly across the streets of London with graffiti on their back has now become a common sight thanks to artist Slinkachu.

Moving Ghost Town

The Aspen Art Museum tried to execute a highly controversial work on art for which they received a lot of bad publicity even before the museum opened. The attached two i-Pad screens on top of Sulcata tortoises and played video footage of nearby ghost towns on the gadgets. The museum claimed that they were trying to “cultivate a site-specific approach to culture and history”, whatever that means!

Turf War

This is one of artist Banksy’s first art pieces. He opened an exhibition in a London warehouse called “Turf War” in July 2003 where he painted many live cows with art, including Andy Warhol’s work.

Cat With A Tattoo

This insane trend has been developing recently in Russia. Cat owners have been seen tattooing their pets with elaborate and intensive images as a new form of self-expression.

The Pig With A Dragon Tattoo

This trend has been solely credited to one artist from Belgium called Wim Delvoye. He considers himself an artist and “provocateur”, and uses pigs as a canvas to create some elaborate tattoos.

Poor Poodles

This art form is called “creative grooming”. Pet owners use poodles and other furry dogs to create some bizarre and eye-pooping works of art, by cutting and dyeing their dogs in different ways.

Optical Illusions Using Cows

Artist Emma Hack from Southern Australia decided to create a unique photo series that relies on using cows as a medium to craft optical illusions. The artist loved the fact that the cows are always moving from one place to another, thereby carrying the work of art with them. She painted many things on the cows including images of birds, and the famous melting clock created by Salvador Dali.

Camel Art

Every year, the Indian state of Rajasthan organizes a festival in the month of January, where camel owners are encouraged to decorate the beasts. They do this not by painting the camels, but instead by shaving off their fur in innovative ways using a a pair of scissors.