ABSTRACT
Only a very few contemporary artists working with animal imagery see their work as being directly shaped by their own commitment to the cause of animal rights. this essay will briefly consider some of the recent work and concerns of three such artists: US-based Sue Coe, who is primarily associated with graphic work for the printed page; UK-based Britta Jaschinski, whose medium is photography; and new zealand-based Angela Singer, who recycles taxidermy and other animal materials. My intention is not at all to offer a nascent theory of animal rights art, but rather to present a preliminary comparison of how and why these particular artists see their diverse presentational strategies as a necessary means of taking the viewer beyond Wolfe’s “photographs of … the killing floor.” All quotations from the artists, unless otherwise indicated, are drawn from my interviews, conversations, and correspondence with them.
