Mother and Child • London 2015 | Artist - James Straffon. Installed October 2015

When elephants fight, it is the grass that gets hurt.

Swahili proverb

On the eve of the largest global protest march for the support of Elephants and Rhinos, TAG added their voice to the many, with an artwork entitled 'Mother and Child' - which looks to the past and the future, posing the poignant question 'What will remain for the next generation?'

More than 35,000 elephants are being killed every year (currently one every fifteen minutes) so their tusks can be carved into ivory trinkets. A rhino is slaughtered once every 8 hours for its horn. Their only hope for survival lies in an immediate end to the ivory and rhino horn trade (both "legal" and "illegal") and the chance to recover from decades of mass slaughter.

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Pantera pardus | Artist - James Straffon. Installed November 2019

Spray paint and graffiti marker on recycled wood panels.

64 x 160cm

Panthera pardus is available to view at The Westbury, 57 Westbury Ave, Wood Green, London N22 6SA
Available as a bespoke artwork.

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

A Rhino in the Herb Garden | Artist - James Straffon. Installed June 2018

On 4th June 2018 the enlightened pupils at North Harringay Primary School, London returned from a half-term break to discover a Rhino in the herb garden. Further exploration of the outside zones of the school uncovered a climbing Red Panda, a majestic Tiger, an enquiring Red-eyed Tree Frog, a glorious Giraffe, bending to take a drink from one of the playground’s child-proportioned water fountains, and a mature Rhino, casually chewing on a clump of fresh Oregano shoots. A mini-menagerie had magically appeared in their absence.

The five animals in this collection were chosen to introduce the children to the diversity of the animal kingdom, and more critically bring focus to the plight of those species in danger of extinction, along with the rapidly disappearing flora on which they depend. The Sixth Mass Extinction is now a recognised phenomena - this a disconcerting and destructive component of a new epoch known as the Anthropocene - in which human activity on our planet has become the dominant influence on climate and the environment; polluting the oceans and altering the atmosphere.

This influence has set a new and different trajectory for the Earth system. As the children grow up, and in time produce families of their own, will animals painted on walls be how we remember the creatures which once existed?

This series of artworks created with the generous help of the North Harringay Primary PSA, along with the assistance of staff members.

A Rhino in the Herb Garden is partly created in the memory of Sudan - the last male Northern White Rhino - who passed away in March 2018.

Painted by TAG Co-Founder James Straffon.

Project limited edition prints available from the TAG SHOP.

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.