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February Issue
2008
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC, Features Works by Mark Hallett
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC, will present the exhibit, Lost Worlds: Dinosaurs in Art, featuring work of Paleoartist and Jurassic Park illustrator, Mark Hallett. The exhibition, a complement to the Museum's current traveling exhibit, Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries, will be on view in the Museum's Nature Art Gallery from Feb. 1 through Mar. 2, 2008.
Paleoart is a blending of natural science, art and the artist's imagination. The result is an amazing menagerie of prehistoric creatures that once inhabited our planet. There are different types of paleoartists, those whose art is based primarily on their imaginations and those who base their work on the fossil record. Hallett is of the latter school and has earned the respect of the scientific community, which considers his work accurate and credible, as well as the artistic community, who appreciate the artistry he employs.
Hallett has enjoyed a 30-year career, richly illustrating our planet's prehistory in meticulous detail and accuracy for publications such as Life, National Geographic, Fossils and Smithsonian. He has also created illustrations for numerous books including Miriam Schlein's book for children, The Puzzle of the Dinosaur Bird and David Gillette's Seismosaurus, The Earth Shaker. Hallett was also a scientific and artistic consultant for the Jurassic Park movies and helped design and create the starring dinosaurs.
Depending on the complexity of his subject Hallett can spend days, months or even years researching and creating a mural or other illustration. He has designed and painted murals for several museums and zoos including the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Natural History Museum. "My greatest desire is to excite the imagination and sense of wonder we all have about the natural world," he says. "If my art and writing can contribute to that, I will feel great happiness and fulfillment." Hallett also hopes his work raises awareness of the link between the vanished worlds of the past and the endangered life forms and ecosystems of the present.
For further information check our NC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the Nature Art Gallery at 919/733-7450,
ext. 360 or visit (www.naturalsciences.org/store/nature_gallery.html).
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