Wellcome Collection travels to Tokyo
9 November 2009
Medicine And Art: Imagining a future for life and love
Leonardo da Vinci, Okyo, Damien Hirst
28 November 2009-28 February 2010, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
'Medicine and Art: Imagining a future for life and love' is a unique attempt by a Japanese museum to unravel the relationship between art and medicine. Central to the exhibition is the theme of the human body as the meeting place of medicine and art, featuring prominent historical and contemporary artists whose work brings together objective and subjective understandings of the medical aspect of the human condition - including Leonardo da Vinci, Damien Hirst and Marc Quinn.
'Medicine and Art: Imagining a future for life and love' will comprise over 150 historical artefacts as well as some 30 pieces of contemporary art. Highlights of contemporary material include: Luke Jerram's 'Swine Flu' sculpture, recently purchased by Wellcome Collection as a timely reflection of the impending global pandemic; stunning black and white photographs of terminally ill patients in German hospices by Walter Schels, which were part of Wellcome Collection's acclaimed 'Life Before Death' exhibition; and 'Free' a sculpture by Marc Quinn, also on loan from Wellcome Collection.
Highlights of the historical material include Florence Nightingale's moccasins, Charles Darwin's walking stick, Vincent van Gogh's etching of his therapist and friend Paul Ferdinand Gachet and Michelangelo drawings of the human anatomy - all from Wellcome Collection.
Dr Ken Arnold, Head of Public Programmes at Wellcome Collection comments:"We are delighted to be able to showcase our exhibits and the thinking behind Wellcome Collection for a new Japanese and international audience. Japanese museums have much medicine, history and art on show of course, but our unique way of bringing them together may be new to them."
The exhibition will be split into three distinct sections:
Discovering the Inner World of the Body
How did people around the world first acquire understanding of the mechanisms of the human body and the vast world it contains? The first section of the exhibition answers that question by tracing various scientific developments through a vast array of artefacts. Exhibited works include anatomical drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo as well as anatomical diagrams and models from around the world. There are also works of contemporary art by Andy Warhol, Magnas Wallin, and Bai Yilao, as well as traditional Japanese works of art by the likes of Maruyama Ōkyo and Kawanabe Kyosai.
Fighting Against Death and Disease
This section looks at how people perceive death and disease and how they have tried to fight against it. In addition to presenting the history of medicine, pharmaceuticals, life sciences and scientific technology, this section poses philosophical questions about the nature of life and death. Exhibited works here include Japanese anatomical texts as well as medical journals and historical medical instruments from around the world. There are also paintings on the theme of medicine and works of contemporary art by Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn and Yanagi Miwa.
Toward Eternal Life and Love
In light of the latest developments in biotechnology, cybernetics and neuroscience, the mixture of medical exhibits and works of art in the third part of the exhibition helps audiences grapple with such pressing issues as whether the human commitment to reproduce will remain unchanged and what our definitions of life are likely to evolve into. Exhibited works here include diagrams by René Descartes, illustrations by Francis Crick of the double-helix structure of DNA, and contemporary artworks by Francis Bacon, Jan Fabre, Matsui Fuyuko and others.
For more details on the exhibition see Mori Art Museum's ‘Medicine and Art’ web page.
Image: Western Manuscript 93, veins of the foot and "vein man". Credit: Wellcome Images
Contact:
Mike Findlay
Senior Media Officer (Wellcome Collection)
T: 020 7611 8612
E: m.findlay@wellcome.ac.uk
Ms Tamura, Ms Li, Mr Watanabe
Public Relations (Mori Art Museum)
T: +81-3-6406-6111
F: +81-3-6406-9351
E: pr@mori.art.museum
Notes to editors
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.
The Wellcome Trust's former headquarters, the Wellcome Building on London's Euston Road, has been redesigned by Hopkins Architects to become a new £30 million public venue. Free to all, Wellcome Collection explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. The building comprises three galleries, a public events space, the Wellcome Library, a café, a bookshop, conference facilities and a members' club.