Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, until 28 April 2007

Aletheia, 2006, Joel Fisher (b1947), Courtesy of the artist.

THE CURRENT exhibition at IMAG, ‘Anatomy Acts – How We Come to Know Ourselves’, is drawn exclusively from Scottish Collections, and represents how medicine and art have contributed to our understanding of the human body.

It represents part of the whole touring exhibition, and it is disappointing that the show cannot be seen in its entirety, presumably due to lack of space. There is, however, a substantial amount of material to see, ranging from photographs, anatomical drawings, x-rays, scans, specimens, medical instruments and models to poetry and paintings.

Much of the material on display was created for education and medical training purposes with the notable exception of works commissioned for the exhibition, including work by artist Joel Fisher and poetry by Kathleen Jamie.

Joel Fisher’s work ‘Alethia’ (2006) is a series of “Chinese whispers” memory drawings by volunteers in response to the coat of arms of the Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons, founded in 1505, and ‘A Wounded Man’ (1517).

It is ultimately human interpretation of the physical which holds the most fascination (at least for this viewer), and personally I would have liked to have seen more evidence of expressive exploration through art of the five themes in the show (Growing and Forming, Mirroring and Multiplying, Feeling, Looking and Listening, and Charting), including access to all the commissioned works created specifically for the exhibition.

Much of the show’s intrigue lies with anatomy as the science of living – living in the broadest sense of the word not just on a cellular level but an intellectual and emotional one.

I’m sure that many viewers will bring their own readings to drawings and specimens based on experience of disease, child birth or surgery. For all the technological advances in clinical diagnosis the human eye remains unsurpassed when viewing anatomical drawings, many of which are still used to teach after hundreds of years.

There is also something strangely beautiful and abstract about the cross section of bone or the inner ear depicted in drawings from Professor Robert Lockhart’s ‘Anatomy of the Human Body’.

Neil Stewart’s watercolours (1851) depicting ‘Fallopian Tubes’ and ‘Lobular Impacted Condensation of the Lung’ were also strangely captivating. The act of anatomical dissection and its visual record have more resonance than simply peering into the inner physical workings.

The element of feeling is always present in health or disease, and is revealed in poetry such as ‘Janet’ by Kathleen Jamie, presented alongside a clinical drawing of diseased tissue.

A painted papier mache Male Dermatome Model from the early twentieth century reveals the relationship between areas of skin and spinal nerves in coloured bands across the body as a fascinating kind of anatomical map.

The romantic painting ‘Gunshot Wound of the Humerus’ (1809) and accompanying drawing by Charles Bell are exhibited with the section of bone from the soldier’s amputated arm in intriguing juxtaposition.

There is nothing ghoulish or shocking about exhibition contents such as the Hirst-like cross section of a head from the 19th century. Since it is our own human flesh that we see represented, a direct relationship is created between the viewer and exhibit.

Bringing collections together is a strong political current in national touring shows which begs for further development, but greater creative risk in curating is necessary to really engage and challenge the audience.

I found the subtitle of the exhibition, “How We Come to Know Ourselves”, a curious one and it caused me to stand and question many of the exhibits, since so many of them related directly to charting the physical world. This contradiction was one worth further consideration, and I was glad that in addition to the exhibition several events were organised to coincide with the show to explore some of its themes more deeply.

The Exhibitions Unit took an innovative step of actively engaging in a dialogue between science and art in an evening discussion about perceptions of the human body with Tim Palmer, Head Pathologist at Raigmore Hospital, and artist Dean Melville.

Examining the processes involved in creating work and diagnosis, the role of human imagination and creative problem solving in both disciplines the evening sets a great precedent.

I hope that events exploring themes within the exhibition programme will become a regular feature of IMAG’s calander. Life drawing and a talk by ‘Fleshmarket’ author Nicola Morgan have also been arranged in association with the exhibition.

Whether your interest is in art or medicine, ‘Anatomy Acts’ provides a wide range of source material to consider.

© Georgina Coburn, 2007

Links

• Inverness Museum and Art Gallery
• Anatomy Acts