From the Curator:

Two hundred and forty five million years ago, the Permian extinction event also known as “The Great Dying” took place. It was the greatest mass extinction in earthʼs history. With seventy percent of all life wiped out, the stage was set for “The Age of Reptiles.” In this Mesozoic Era, reptiles saw the greatest amount of development, these advances would help them become the undisputed rulers of the planet.

Slow moving plant eaters, some weighing in at eighty tons, thundered across plains and trampled forests. Looking on from the shadows, with longing, hungry eyes and bone crushing teeth lurked super killers, scanning the herds for signs of weakness. Some would abandon terrestrial life and take to the skies on wings of skin, or slither into water to conquer the unforgiving seas. Horns, crests, armor, and tails ending in clubs or spikes were all adapted for protection in a world where death came quickly and in many forms.

Sixty six million years ago, in the Southern Hemisphere of North America, a meteorite slams into earth at sixty thousand miles per hour, turning night into day. It unleashes the light of a thousand suns as it vaporizes. Hot mud, dust and boulders are thrown hundreds of miles; waves rise up thousands of feet high and race towards coastlines. Shockwaves cause earthquakes, the horizon glows red as forests and animals burn. Those who survive these horrors face starvation as clouds of dust choke out the sunʼs life giving light. The earth is dark.

Dinosaurs had ruled every niche of earthʼs ancient landscape for one hundred and fifty million years, eight hundred times that of man. Perhaps that is the reason we are so intrigued by them. Their fossilized remains remind us of what can happen tomorrow.

This month The Autumn Society of Philadelphia and Paradigm Gallery team up to bring you “The Age of Reptiles.” A showing of art dedicated to the biggest, baddest, meanest animals ever to inhabit the earth.

The Dinosaurs.

-Anthony Pedro

Exhibition Photos: