Emerging artist B.Enkhmunkh has launched his “Fantastic Creatures” solo exhibition, showcasing 3D sculptures as well as paintings and drawings.

    The artworks in this exhibition explore both our closeness to and distance from animals, including our relationships with wild animals and livestock.

The artist wanted to illustrate the mythological mindset of nomads through his pieces. In particular, he explained that all Mongolian legends have historical accounts and wisdom about living harmoniously with nature. Therefore, he staged his masterpieces to promote Mongolian myths and continue to pass them down from generation to generation.

For instance, B.Enkhmunkh depicted the Mongolian belief that children sleep better and don’t have nightmares if they have a photo or toy of a fox next to them through his “Fox Dream” sculpture. Mongolians people usually hang a fox made of felt on babies’ cradles to help them sleep well. There is a legend that foxes come into the dreams of babies and lies about their mothers being sick or dying. So to avoid real foxes from coming, Mongolians place a felt fox next to babies at night. According to the myth, the felt fox reassures the baby that his or her mother is alive and well.

    The artist’s new collection almost entirely depicts animals made with wood and bones. He takes inspiration from his homeland, Tseel soum of Govi-Altai Province, where there are many wild animals including different types of gazelles, Przewalski horses, Asiatic wild asses, snow leopards, wolves, and the Gobi bear.

His sculptures and paintings ambiguously demonstrate animals’ emotions through form and gesture, provoking an intriguing interaction between the viewer and the artwork.

Young sculptor B.Enkhmunkh graduated from the branch school of the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture in Zavkhan Province in 2017 and studied carving at the Institute of Fine Arts. He participated in 10 joint art exhibitions to date.

To see more of his sculptures and paintings, stop by the Fine Arts Zanabazar Museum. The exhibition will be on display through May 25.