We are delighted to host artist Dana Ellyn’s latest exhibition, Speciesism, featuring a series of Ellyn’s paintings exploring humans’ complicated and often contradictory relationship with animals.

Ellyn is the artist behind some of the most popular and thought provoking paintings related to animal rights and veganism. Her work has garnered international attention and multiple awards, and has recently been featured by PETA.

The Speciesism series, rendered in a style Ellyn describes as a battle between her technical training and her desire to infuse every painting with emotion and meaning, revolves around the question that animates many of her animal-themed paintings: Why do we love some animals and eat others?

The result is a challenging, provocative and irreverent collection that can spark a range of sometimes surprising reactions. “I’ve dabbled in a lot of different subject matters, many of them controversial,” said Ellyn, who has been a vegetarian for 15 years. “Especially those touchy subjects you’re not supposed to discuss at a dinner party: religion, politics, divorce, not wanting kids, etc. When I began to really focus on creating vegan-themed paintings, I thought I was venturing into less controversial territory. I was definitely wrong."

Speciesism will run from October 30 - December 4, 2015.