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Recently, animal-loving artists and photographers have dedicated their talents to helping an unlikely creature: the common pigeon. Proving that these birds are more than just a blip in the urban landscape, these creatives have showcased their beauty through photographed portraits, flight studies, and, thanks to artist Adele Renault, stunning pigeon paintings.
Renault creates realistic portraits that offer an intimate look at the overlooked animals. While the pieces range in size from small works on canvas to monumental murals, they all highlight the iridescent feathers, expressive faces, and powerful poses of the seemingly “scruffy pigeons.”
While Renault works from photos of real birds, she does not include any hint of their habitats in her paintings. Instead, she depicts them against stark backdrops of black, white, or gold that draw attention to the details that make them so special. “Her subjects are pictured as photographed,” her website explains, “yet are then isolated from their context, enlarged and flooded in sunlight.”
Much like the diverse beauty of her muses, Renault has an eclectic approach to exhibiting her work. Her pieces can be found in high-end galleries, public spaces, and now within the pages of a book. Feathers and Faces pairs Renault's pigeon portraits with paintings of equally overlooked individuals, further illustrating the “inconspicuous beauty of every day objects and subjects.”
Fly on over to Amazon pick up your own copy of Feathers and Faces.
Artist Adele Renault creates paintings that capture the unexpected elegance of pigeons.
Each pigeon painting showcases the beauty of their feathers and expressive nature of their faces.
They range from smaller works on canvas…
…to monumental murals!
Renault has also compiled these pieces into a beautiful book, Feathers and Faces.
Adele Renault: Website | Instagram | Facebook
My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Adele Renault.
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