DARWIN'S DREAM, St Pancras Church, London (UK), 2014

Darwin's Dream springboards from Vanmechelen ongoing project The Cosmopolitan Chicken, in which he uses the chicken as a universal metaphor. In the evocative, labyrinthine tunnels of the 200 year old crypt of St. Pancras Church, Darwin’s Dream, reflects on the artist’s discoveries through works in a multitude of media. Curated by Jill Silverman van Coenegrachts and James Putnam, the exhibition features a living ‘jungle’ and a miniature lake at its centre and includes performance video, photography and sculpture in glass. The genetic lineage throughout the generations of the cosmopolitan chickens is illustrated in a family tree and larger than life-size photographic portraits of the parents and their offspring, presented alongside specimens of the different generations preserved in taxidermy.