Abandon Ship!

Artist Sue Coe takes us on a tour of a world few know or want to know—the live transport of sheep across the ocean from Australia to the Middle East. Australian sheep suffer one of the most harrowing experiences imaginable: thousands packed tightly into old freighters on a voyage lasting for weeks, without food or water, for their final destination—ritual slaughter. Through powerful images, Sheep of Fools tells the story of their experience, before, after and during the voyage.

Not one to shy away from misery, Sue Coe’s art helps us imagine the unimaginable. Rows of animals restrained for the abhorrent but routine mulesing process (the cutting of swaths of skin in the genital region as a cheap infection deterrent). On board: newborn sheep stuffed hind legs first into mincers; a ship’s cargo of sheep and goats abandoned by the crew to helplessly drown when the boat catches fire.

Sheep of Fools is on exhibit at New York’s Galerie St. Etienne, opening September 20th and on display through November 5th. It is also formulated into an illustrated storybook, due out in September from Fantagraphics. Here Satya presents a selection of Coe’s images, reproduced with kind permission from the artist.

See the exhibit at Galerie St. Etienne, 24 W. 57th Street, Manhattan. For information, contact (212) 245-6734 or www.gseart.com.—C.C.