Censorship. A magazine that was going to run a story on my work has now refused to publish what the journalist wrote [below]. The editor doesnt want to offend her following :( Article written by: Tanita Cree Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. It’s the phrase that comes to mind when you look upon works by artist and animal rights activist, Jo Frederiks. Within each piece of her artwork she demonstrates not only her love for animals, but her conviction that they deserve treatment so much better than what mankind currently offers. Jo, a forty-eight year old artist living in the picturesque town of Murwillumbah, realised at a young age animals were suffering needlessly at the hands of mankind. Growing up on a million acre cattle station in Central Queensland, she was able to see first hand just how cruelly humans treat other species, and it was this that inspired her to become a vegan. After a career as a model and cover girl, Jo studied at The Arts Academy in Brisbane, graduating with Honours. In the time since she has had many solo and joint exhibitions, including recent shows in the Ukraine and Germany, and an appearance on the popular art television series, Put Some Colour In Your Life. Jo’s love of animals is never more apparent than when she holds a pencil or a paintbrush. Though she works in varying mediums, Jo favours graphite and oil paint, utilising these to bring her images to life on paper or canvas. Each drawing is sensitive, exquisite, and beautifully detailed, offering a rare glimpse at the depth and character to each individual animal. You may now be wondering how Jo plans to ‘disturb the comfortable’, as Banksy so eloquently put it. Though her artwork has always been predominantly animal based, it is only in the last few years that Jo has begun to utilize her works to raise awareness for animal cruelty. It is her next major exhibition, The Animal Holocaust’, that promises to expose the well-hidden plight of helpless animals, and force those comfortable in their ignorance to sit up and pay attention. When asked about the significance of using the term ‘holocaust’, Jo very calmly explained her reasoning. “The definition of holocaust is ‘great or total destruction of life’. Well, the fact that we needlessly torture and kill two billion innocent, sentient animals each week is a holocaust of mind-blowing proportions. That’s not counting the one billion sea creatures we butcher every three hours on average. It’s utterly barbaric, and completely unsustainable.” As it was Jewish survivors, such as Nobel Prize Laureate’s Issac Bashevis Singer and J.M. Coetzee, that first made the comparison, Jo has no problem utilizing the analogy between the Jewish holocaust and the modern day animal holocaust. Factually correct and well documented by acclaimed historian Charles Patterson in ‘Eternal Treblinka’, the same justification for killing has been used in both cases: the other is a lesser being. When looking at the facts and figures, one cannot help but realize that Animal Rights is now the greatest social injustice since the abolition of slavery. A lot of us cannot deny that we like to look the other way if it means we get a cheeseburger on occasion, but how would some of us feel if we had to watch exactly how that animal ended up on our plates? In this modern day and age of technology and freedom of information, ignorance is no longer an excuse for abuse or suffering. Like many animal rights activists, Jo is adamant that there is no such thing as ‘human meat’, or ‘humane slaughter’. It will soon be up to the consumers to realize that their compliance with an industry like this supports animal cruelty. Taste is not a justification for torture. Jo realizes that her confronting art may cause some distress, or ruffle some feathers, but she knows change can only occur when people are pushed from their comfort zones. With the exhibition to be held at the Royal Queensland Art Society Art Gallery in September, and being opened by Humanitarian of the Year, Victorian of the Year, and Medal of Order of Australia winner, Phillip Wollan, Jo hopes to thrust her message into the public sphere. It was Dr Helmut Kaplan that made the definitive statement: Our grandchildren will ask us one day: Where were you during the holocaust of the animals? What did you do against these horrific crimes? We wont be able to offer the same excuse for the second time, that we didnt know.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 08:29:07 +0000
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