Following its recent launch on Mayfair’s Mount Street, new contemporary art gallery Shizaru unveils its upcoming exhibition season with celebrated goldsmith Kelly McCallum’s solo show, Plumage & Paradise (15 September-8 October 2011).

In keeping with Shizaru’s fresh approach to creativity, this inaugural show will challenge conceptions of the idyllic through a series of pieces that explore ornamental trappings and intangible notions of the afterlife.

With a selection of pieces précised in the gallery since it opened in July, McCallum has expanded the series for this dedicated show that invites the viewers to participate in a story that embraces outward presentation, display and attraction – as illustrated in the ‘plumage’ of the birds with their ornamental saddles – as well as taking them on a darker, subjective journey to hidden internal landscapes that challenge initial perceptions.

Alongside the ‘aviary’ of birds, the Paradise series will include small deer, a polar bear and fox. These pieces will contain innovative ‘windows’ into the animals that depict pastoral scenes, underwater landscapes (complete with specially created silver and gold and sea creatures) and overspillilng ‘drawers’ brimming with dirt, flowers and other symbols of life in the world, stimulating discussion around concepts of idyll, death and memory without demanding a specific interpretation.