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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Sue Coe...

is an artist whose book "Dead Meat" was one of the first 'veganized' books I purchased. Her images are haunting and powerful. Wikipedia writes:
Sue Coe (born 28 November 1951 in Tamworth, Staffordshire) is an English artist and illustrator working primarily in drawing and printmaking, often in the form of illustrated books and comics. She grew up close to a slaughterhouse and developed a passion to stop cruelty to animals. Coe studied at the Royal College of Art in London, lived in New York City from 1972 to 2001. She currently lives in upstate New York. Her work is highly political, often directed against capitalism and cruelty to animals.notes that:
I ran across this video over on Our Hen House (created and produced by them) and was delighted to be able to hear and see Ms. Coe talk about her art and her creative process. The analogy she made between witnessing the horror we are visiting upon our fellow animals and looking at the sun was just exquisite. Just like looking at the sun, these things we are doing are so glittering and penetrating in their awfulness we can only bear to look briefly...and then we have to turn away.

The horror cannot be borne....yet it is...by our victims...day in and day out....every second of every hour and no one does a better job of witnessing these atrocities than does Ms. Coe.


Sue Coe: Art of the Animal on Vimeo.

She also talks about the reality distortion and avoidance that we are all exposed to and damaged by and how moving into an ethical vegan lifestyle empowers us to "spit out" the "fodder" of oppression. Good stuff! I would love to have the opportunity to sit down and have a long and winding conversation with this talented and insightful human animal. Thank you Sue Coe.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love her work! She's been crucial to my thinking. Thank you for posting this.

Harry said...

What an incredible woman! So humbling to see someone's passion to make the world a gentler place come alive in such powerful art. Thank you for posting this VE.

Yes, "Go Vegan and nobody gets hurt!"

veganelder said...

Thank you DEM and Harry for your comments.

DEM: She's a genuine treasure isn't she?

Harry: I'm very glad to have done it, you're welcome!

Annie said...

This is fantastic! THANK you so much for introducing her and her work to me. I have so much to learn!

An Unrefined Vegan

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting Annie. I'm very happy her efforts are of interest to you...and I'm with you...I have so much to learn too.

Bea Elliott said...

I was taken by Sue Coe from the start. Her work spoke to me on a visceral level. It's so intense you can't help but feel and experience all she masterfully portrays. She truly is a gift to the AR movement.

It's fitting that the arts should play a major role in the advancement of our cause... Culture needs to be affected and disturbed.

This might be of interest - in case you haven't seen it:

ANTENNAE - The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture
Along with significant others, is a piece discussing Sue Coe's and Mary Britton Clouse's work as well. http://www.antennae.org.uk/

Thank you for writing about this VE. It's important.

Have Gone Vegan said...

Very powerful. And amazing how easy it is not to see. So glad she's helping us to remember AND see, because I truly believe that the act of observing is not a passive one, but one that can change what is being observed. Thanks for posting.

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting Bea.

I read a quote somewhere to the effect that artists (poets, painters and others) are the unacknowledged legislators of cultures. I think there's much truth in that and Sue Coe is a major one.

Thanks for the link, I will visit and read.

veganelder said...

Thank you for commenting HGV. I'm glad for Ms. Coe's efforts too.