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These marvelous beings are threatened in the wild by loss of
habitat due to illegal logging by Man.
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URBAN is a Sumatran orangutan. He was born at the
Sacramento Zoo on February 18, 1981. The large cheek pads denote
that he is a mature male. I'll be honest with you. As an artist,
the cheek pads are a problem. However, I found if I could look past
the cheek pads, and concentrated on the eyes, I could find the individual.
For decades people have been seeing orangutans and the other great
apes as clowns and funny looking creatures for our entertainment.
I think it's time to let their image evolve to a higher level. Here
Urban is looking out from under a tree branch, which is rather fitting
considering the origins of how we have come to know his species.
Long before scientists named them, the local people in Indonesia
called these amazing beings, Orangutan (or-ong-u-taun) which means
"people of the forest." For centuries, the local people
have recognized these individuals to be "people." It was
much later that science came along and down-graded them and classified
them as apes. We have spent billions of dollars looking for intelligent
life in the universe and yet we have failed to fully acknowledge
and respect the incredible, intelligent beings already right here
on Earth. We call ourselves Homo sapiens sapiens - "thinking,
thinking Man." What are we thinking?
Species: Pongo pygmeaus abelii
Painting is 24"x 36".
Completed in 2002. |