Early Bird: Group Show

Palo Gallery (New York) is delighted to present their upcoming show, Early Bird, a group presentation of over 20 artists spanning painting, photography, sculpture and works on paper. This exhibition explores the enduring varietal symbolism of birds throughout art and history, from the cave paintings of Lascaux and Egyptian hieroglyphics, to Greco-Roman myths and the flying machines of the Wright Brothers. This selection of artists explores birds as both historical symbols and personal motifs, reflecting on their significance in historical and contemporary practices.

The exhibition will feature artworks by R. Jesse Baltazar, Sasha Brodsky, Xanthe Burdett, Lily Burgess, Steven Molina Contreras, Leyla Fischer, Paulina Freifeld, Camille Henrot, Carlos Jamarillo, Ameen Abo Kaseem, Claudia Keep, Oidie Kuijpers, Malù dalla Piccola, Charlie Roberts, India Sachi, Sage Schachter, Kiki Smith, Orejarena & Stein, Nicola Tyson, Paul Vogeler, Nikko Washington, and Rachel Wolf. 

Birds have been powerful symbols across civilizations, appearing as divine messengers, carriers of freedom, and embodiments of beauty and transcendence. Long after they took to the skies, birds soared through our stories, dreams, and collective imagination. In ancient art, they appeared as divine messengers, from bird-human hybrids in the Lascaux caves, to the symbolic pigeon in Egyptian hieroglyphics, and to ravens and doves in imagery of the Old Testament. In Greek mythology, birds carried layered meanings: the eagle symbolized Zeus’s power, the owl embodied Athena’s wisdom, and the swan connected to the beauty of Aphrodite and Apollo. These mythologies continue to resonate in the contemporary works of Leyla Fischer and Claudia Keep, who respectively reimagine the owl as an intuitive guide and the swan as a figure of quiet grace. In contrast, India Sachi’s painting evokes a darker tone, with circling crows challenging us to confront our mortality.

During the Medieval and Renaissance periods, birds reinforced religious themes, while artists like Leonardo da Vinci meticulously studied their anatomy to understand the mechanics of flight. Echos of these studies can be found in Xanthe Burdett’s Twice Bitten while entwining religious symbolism. By the modern era, birds had taken on new political and emotional significance, from Picasso’s Dove of Peace to Joan Miró’s surrealist explorations of freedom.

Early Bird serves as a cross-temporal dialogue, highlighting how the bird continues to evolve as a cultural symbol. Once tethered to mythology and science, birds today often signify freedom, migration, identity, and the soul’s journey. The exhibition offers space for contemporary artists to explore what birds mean to them now, presenting diverse, intimate, and urgent perspectives on the bird’s role in both artistic and social discourse.Birds have continued to fascinate the human imagination for millennia, and the works in Early Bird explore this enduring relationship.