Visionary Anatomies contains the work of contemporary artists who use medical images and concepts to express aesthetic, social and cultural ideas. Despite ideas of separation between "unbiased" technological representations and "biased" artistic interpretation, some artists and scientists continue a dialogue and discover powerful metaphors and insights in each other's work. In art, as in biology and medicine, anatomic representation can be a point of departure rather than an endpoint. The anatomic form becomes more than an illustration of living tissue; it reveals an intersection of life and imagination and provokes us to think anew about who we are and of what we are made. The works draw from ancient anatomy and from modern imaging technology. Individually fascinating, they are yet more powerful as a collection, demanding repeatedly that we take a fresh look at ourselves, our inner being, and our place in the world. |