The End of the Game – The Last Word from Paradise Exhibition Revisited
2015 is the 50th anniversary of artist Peter Beard’s book, The End of the Game – The Last Word from Paradise. Beard spent many years in Africa documenting the impact of Western civilization on elephants, other wildlife and the people who lived there. In 1977 Beard had the first one-person show at Manhattan’s International Center of Photography, “The End of the Game – The Last Word from Paradise.”
Over four months, Orin Langelle photographed Beard and the people, many celebrities, that were part of Beard’s life prior to and during the exhibit’s installation and the subsequent opening, plus Beard’s 40th birthday party at Studio 54 in January of 1978.
Langelle’s photographs are of events surrounding Beard’s 1977’s The End of the Game – The Last Word from Paradise. The ICP installation consisted of Beard’s photographs, elephant carcasses, burned diaries, taxidermy, African artifacts, books and personal memorabilia. In the early 60s Beard worked at Kenya’s Tsavo National Park, during which time he photographed and documented the demise of over 35,000 elephants and 5,000 Black Rhinos.
Langelle’s work at the International Center of Photography gave him a rare insight into Beard, whose controversial views on ecology then, are just as relevant today.
With the support of the Peter Beard Studio, ¡Buen Vivir! presents this exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Beard’s book, The End of the Game – The Last Word from Paradise.
– See more at: http://wp.me/p592R1-169
Photos by Orin Langelle
Opens: October 9, 2015 Featuring Music, Wine and Hors D’oeuvres 6 – 9 p.m.
Closes: December 17, 2015
¡Buen Vivir! Gallery, 148 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY
The ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery was founded to present an historical look at movements for change, struggle and everyday life. It is designed to counter the societal amnesia from which we collectively suffer—especially with regard to the history of social and ecological movements and issues, and to inspire new generations to participate in the making of a better world.
The name of the gallery, ¡Buen Vivir!, is a concept stemming from Indigenous and other cultures of the Southern Americas. ¡Buen vivir! means life in harmony between humans, communities, and the Earth–where work is not a job to make others wealthier, but for a livelihood that is sustaining, fulfilling, and in tune with the common good.
The 2014 theme was “Intercultural Dialogues in Arts & Culture,” a celebration of a “cultural mosaic” – a mix of creative people of different geographical roots, languages and cultures that co-exist within today’s global society. The festival aimed to bring together artists that have preserved their heritage and culture, in and outside of their geographical boundaries, by retaining their diversity and influencing the world with their cultural ethnicities.
Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone, wildlife filmmakers in Africa write about “756 Elephants” in “Haunted by a photograph.”
Peter Beard was one of 300 artists participating in The Big Egg Hunt, a charity initiative where all proceeds from the Egg Auction on April 22, 2014 benefited two charities: ‘The Elephant Family’ and Agnes Gund’s ‘Studio in a School’.
Peter Beard has been documenting and interpreting Africa’s epic landscapes and indigenous species for nearly six decades. Here he gives a rare insight into his life and practice in this meditative short from director Derek Peck. Shot at Beard’s home in Montauk, Long Island, we find the artist, author and photographer continuing to develop his complex collage practice that brings together found objects, contact sheets, literary quotes and photographs from Tsavo, Kenya, where he made some of his most memorable and affecting work on elephants in the 60s and 70s. “It does the heart good to see what nature has made available to us,” he says in today’s film. “Nature is the best thing we’ve got.” In his delicate, ornate work, his passion for the natural world is evident, and his commitment to the protection of the environment remains unwavering. “Peter is by turns charming and humorous, dark and brooding, and nostalgic,” Peck says of working with Beard. “Every photo in the collage would trigger a stream of thought about his time in Africa, photography, Montauk, and, especially, his concern for, and anger over, the state of the natural world. This subject more than any other has been at the heart of his work over his lifetime.”
Peter Beard and Richard Ruggiero, October 22nd 2012
PETER BEARD is participating in Elephant Parade, a large scale outdoor art exhibition taking place in London, UK showcasing life size baby elephant sculptures, each uniquely created into works of art by 258 artists from around the world. The exhibition has been created by Mark Shand’s charity, Elephant Family.
LIVINGSTONE SPECTRAL IMAGING PROJECT In 2009, the United States National Endowment for the Humanities and the British Academy funded a project with the goal to decipher and make available to the public important letters and diaries belonging to famed doctor, missionary, and explorer, David Livingstone.