Ape and elephant art goes on show in London Works in the collection have been painted by various primates, as well as Boon Mee, who was formerly a logging elephant in Thailand, and it is believed that this is the first exhibition to showcase multiple species" paintings. There is some variation in how different animals construct pictures. Elephants, for example, can be trained to produce images that clearly resemble trees and flowers, whereas apes take a more creative approach and can make images that Jack Ashby, manager of the museum, describes as: "almost undistinguishable from abstract art by humans that use similar techniques." A detail from an untitled painting by Baka, a Sumatran Orang-utan at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado. Image: Rob Eagle/UCL Images of monkeys painting date back at least to the 17th century in European art but it wasn't until the 1950s that animal paintings gained a wider audience. At that time the Abstract Expressionist movement considered the act of making art and what it revealed about the artist's subconscious. Around the same time, Granada TV's Zoo Time included a segment on primates who could paint. The show's celebrated creative chimp Congo went on to have his own exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. With pictures on show being compared to both toddlers" scribbles and modernist masterpieces, the exhibition will ask whether the animals" contributions are valid and creative or arbitrary and meaningless. The video above examines the topic in more detail. Have a look and let us know which side of the debate you agree with. Can these pictures by animals be considered artworks? When: Feb 1 - March 9 Where: Grant Museum of Zoology, Rockefeller Building, University College London, 21 University Street, London WC1E 6DE Tube: Warren Street; Euston Square How much: free