The Hood Museum's new exhibition, "The Body and Its Image: Art, Technology, and Medical Knowledge," is an installation that considers the human body in the context of medicine. The exhibit is structured around two sections: "Teaching Anatomy" and "Representing Disease," which both reflect the progress of the medical image through time.
The show will run from March 25 to June 22.. An opening slide lecture will be presented at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Apr. 2 in the Loew Auditorium by Barbara Maria Stafford, William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, with a reception following in the Kim Gallery.
"Teaching Anatomy" is a collection of illustrations from medical texts ranging from the 16th through 20th centuries.
The earliest ones, dating from the mid-1500s, are similar to modern anatomical drawings (like Gray's Anatomy) in their "direct observation of dissected cadavers," but they often add scenic touches such as richly detailed engravings and woodcuts which are predominate on some of the 18th century plates, for example featuring whimsical backgrounds such as a grazing rhinoceros. Later drawings incorporate the plain white background with which users of Gray's are familiar.
The exhibit includes both drawings of dissections as well as textbook illustrations modeled after the idea of dissection, showing the various strata of tissue giving way and revealing deeper layers.
Notable non-illustration items include a stereoscopic (3-D) study of the organs in the human torso, and two powerful CD-ROM anatomy programs. One of these is modeled after cross-sections of a human cadaver and can "represent three-dimensional views of virtually any organ or section of the body, seen from any angle," said Christine Crabb, public relations coordinator for the Hood.
The second part of the exhibition, "Representing Disease," begins with several decidedly macabre pieces from the 19th century. Three representative wax models of diseases including leprosy and syphilis are juxtaposed with a series of photographs of an epileptic, creating a disturbing, Marylin Manson-esque sensation.
Indeed, the entire show is a bit unsettling, since it is in fact the ceremonious display of the starkest representations of our own mortality.
Crisp, modern imaging techniques dominate the latter part of the exhibition. Backlit by fluorescent light are images of normal and diseased parts of internal human anatomy, including some culled from the DHMC's X-ray and MRI archives. "In 1896, Dartmouth was the site of the first clinical X-ray in America," notes Crabb.
Medical graphics are rarely seen outside the confines of textbooks and surgery rooms. The Hood's new exhibit shows how these rigorously crafted pieces have represented medicine's (and society's) fascination with anatomy, disease and technology. In the gallery's small space, the viewer is transported through a strange blend of history, science and mystery.
Although the casual observer may feel somewhat alienated by the technical rather than artistic qualities of the pieces, the show is a fascinating survey of these specific methods of illustration and imaging.
