Dutch artists make waves with ‘dead animal’ art

In a loft in a disused school, Dutch artist Noortje Zijlstra takes a frozen crow carcass from a refrigerator and cuts it open, pursuing her latest “dead animal art” project. Zijlstra, 28, is part of a new group of young Dutch artists gaining international recognition in the art world by using taxidermy as their creative medium. Their work has won critical acclaim for elevating the centuries-old practice of mounting animals to a “higher plane”, a review said recently.

My work fuses taxidermy and art, sometimes creating work that may shock or even revolt, but I hope (it) serves as a catalyst for conversation.

Dutch artist Noortje Zijlstra

Many of Zijlstra’s unconventional works adorn her desk at her studio overlooking a drab working-class suburb of The Hague. Earlier in February they were ready to be shipped off for display at the Rotterdam Festival of Contemporary Art. There’s a stuffed squirrel standing upright on its hind legs, a test tube inserted into its throat that serves as a flower holder, and a white dove’s head mounted on a shuttlecock. An artwork simply entitled “Drumstick” features a single preserved baby chicken leg, mounted on a wooden stand, covered in fluffy white feathers.

They want to raise important questions about how we as humans view the natural world - and how we relate to nature and use nature.

Leontine Coelewij, curator at Amsterdam’s famed Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art

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