Skip to main content

The SciArt Buzz: ScienceArt On Exhibit In May/June 2013

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


If I only had a private jet at my beck and call, I could zip around the country to all these fine exhibits... sigh!

_____________

EXHIBITS: NORTHEAST REGION


On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.


Princeton University's ART of SCIENCE

May 10, 2013 -

Atrium, Friend Center Engineering Library

Princeton University

35 Olden Street

Princeton, NJ

The Art of Science exhibition marks Princeton University's 6th annual competition for images that explore the interplay between science and art. Both of these disciplines involve the pursuit of those moments of discovery when what is perceived suddenly becomes more than the sum of its parts. Each piece in this exhibition is, in its own way, a record of such a moment. These 44 extraordinary images are not art for art's sake. Rather, they were produced during the course of scientific research. For those not able to make it to New Jersey to view the exhibition in person, the images and the science behind them can be viewed online.

_____________

Works by RUTH BAUER and KEVIN SLOAN

May 18 to June 22, 2013

Clark Gallery

145 Lincoln Road

Lincoln, MA

Bauer’s jewel colored paintings and detailed watercolors of fantastical birds and insects from the mythical Isle of Kokovoko reveal her sense of wonder of the world and its infinite source of variety. She approaches her subject much like a nineteenth century naturalist whose field guides and illustrated books are among her cherished possessions. Her drawings and watercolors are enhanced by detailed descriptions of the many insects and flowers she has carefully drawn. Many of the species carry invented names that appear to be Latin or follow scientific conventions. This work is part of the artist’s ongoing interest in combining visual art with narrative and is part of a larger project to write a fictional journal of the young Charlotte Fullylove, an amateur naturalist from the 19th century who has traveled to the famed isle of Kokovoko titled Kokovoko The True Story of My Life on a South Pacific Island by Charlotte Fullylove.

Kevin Sloan shares Bauer’s love for the world of nature but is more likely to subtly call our attention to the challenges facing our environment and its “silent inhabitants.” Allegorical in style, Sloan’s paintings are populated with penguins and whooping cranes that take center stage. Finely crafted and eerily lifelike, these creatures are caught in the most unlikely of circumstances as in the image of a whooping crane walking a tightrope. The painting, like all of his work, is an allegory for the delicate balance between nature and civilization and the need to conserve and respect our natural resources. Borrowing liberally from the past, Sloan openly acknowledges his debt to such 19th century giants as John James Audubon, who is known for his lifelong study of the birds of North America.

**Kevin Sloan's work was previously featured on Symbiartic in What Would Audubon Paint Today?

_____________

OCEAN STORIES: A Synergy of Art and Science

Feb 16 to June 9, 2013

Museum of Science

1 Science Park

Boston, MA

This exhibit is an experiment in art and science communication. Eight Boston and Cape Cod professional artists paired with ocean scientists from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to develop novel methods of public engagement with oceanography. Both artists and scientists are challenged to translate across disciplines and formulate a shared voice. Their work is a visual dialogue exploring the broader impacts of science and the multifaceted nature of research. Explore new ways of looking at oceanography through their compelling artwork.

_____________

DRAWN TO DINOSAURS: Hadrosaurus foulkii

February 2 to June 9, 2013

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy

Philadelphia, PA

The Academy of Natural Sciences was the first in the world to create a mounted dinosaur skeleton for display, and to this day the Academy is known as “the dinosaur museum.” Drawn to Dinosaurs: Hadrosaurus foulkii is an intimate exhibit that reveals the science and art of visualizing a living animal based on fragmentary fossils. The centerpiece is a full cast of the plant-eating duckbill dinosaur Hadrosaurus foulkii, discovered in 1858 in Haddonfield, N.J., by an Academy member and later reconstructed by the artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins based on Academy research.

_____________

MARSH MADNESS: Wonders of Wetlands

June 7 - July 26, 2013

Legacy Foundation Gallery

Community School of Music and Arts

Ithaca, NY

Members of the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators present a sampling of some of their favorite wetlands species and habitats. Participating artists: Paula Bensadoun, Henrike Burton, Candy Cima, Marla Coppolino, Margaret Corbit, Camille Doucet, Gretchen Halpert, Phil Hutchings, Shirley Hogg, Iva Lesky, Liisa Mobley, Margy Nelson, Kathy Schlough, and Susanne Williams. Photographs are by our special guest, Daniel Elswit, of Mist, Light & Stone Photography.

_____________

EXHIBITS: SOUTH

EQUALITY AND INDIVIDUALITY: Collaborative Art Between Primates

May 1 to June 1, 2013

Gallery 14

1911 14th Avenue

Vero Beach, FL

Artist Nathaniel Gold takes his respect for non-human primates to the next level in a collaborative art project with chimpanzee refugees living in the Florida sanctuary called Save the Chimps. Gold takes original artwork done by Save the Chimp's residents and weaves their portraits into the composition. Part of the proceeds of all sales will go to the chimpanzee residents at Save the Chimps. Commissions can be ordered through the artist as well.

**Nathaniel Gold's work was previously featured on Symbiartic in Painting With Chimps

_____________

BIRDS IN ART

May 25 to August 18, 2013

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture

University of Tennessee

Knoxville, TN

Since 1976, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum has organized Birds in Art annually, seeking to present the very best contemporary artistic interpretations of birds and related subject matter. This touring exhibit presents original paintings, sculptures, and graphics created in the last two years by artists from the world over, and celebrates the timeless appeal of birds through fresh artistic interpretations. Visitors can expect such works as: the sleek warmth of Lucinda Kate McEachern’s bronze plumed whistling duck; the stark contrast of a bulbul bird against rusted rebar in a Karl Taylor acrylic painting; and Hubert the bright-eyed screech owl in charcoal and ink on paper by Karen Bondarchuk.

_____________

EXHIBITS: MIDWEST

ANIMAL INSIDE OUT: A Body Worlds Production

March 14 - September 2, 2013

Museum of Science and Industry

5700 S. Lakeshore Drive

Chicago, IL

This exhibit, from anatomist Dr. Gunther von Hagens—creator of the trailblazing Body Worlds exhibitions—showcases amazing animal specimens preserved through the process of plastination, which replaces the body's fluids with plastics to incredibly detailed effect. From goats to giraffes and octopuses to ostriches, you'll see the inner workings of some of the world's most impressive animals and better understand the evolution of animals and the natural world.

_____________

FRAGILE ENDURANCE: Work by Kate MacDowell

February 10 - September 22, 2013

John Michael Kohler Arts Center

608 New York Avenue

Sheboygan, WI

FRAGILE ENDURANCE explores the friction and discomfort in man’s relationship with nature. These works raise the question of our own vulnerability within changing ecological systems. Kate MacDowell’s choices of material and subject matter respond to environmental stressors such as climate change and species extinction. Her case studies of two extinct species—the Costa Rican golden toad and the passenger pigeon—can be seen as thoughtful records of lost life forms and commentaries on our own culpability.

**Kate MacDowell's work was previously featured on Symbiartic in Conservation Conversation in Clay.

_____________

EXHIBITS: WEST

THE ART OF RECOLOGY

May 16 - October 27, 2013

F2 – North Connect Gallery

San Francisco International Airport,

United Airlines Terminal (Terminal 3)

San Francisco, CA

This exhibition celebrates the Recology San Francisco Artist in Residence Program and presents over one-hundred pieces made by forty-five artists. Founded in 1990, the Recology San Francisco Artist in Residence Program promotes recycling and reuse, and encourages people to reflect on how their consumption practices affect the environment. All of the works on display were made in the art studio at the San Francisco Solid Waste Transfer and Recycling Facility and constructed from materials the artists scavenged from the Public Disposal and Recycling Area (or what we affectionately refer to as "the dump").

_____________

REVISITING THE SOUTH: Richard Misrach's Cancer Alley

May 20 - June 16, 2013

Cantor Arts Center

Stanford University

328 Lomita Drive

Stanford, CA

Internationally acclaimed photographer Richard Misrach presents a body of work that highlights the environmental and ecological degradation of a passage of the Mississippi River, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, known as Cancer Alley. In this West Coast premiere, there will be 21 large-scale color photographs on view.

Misrach studied the ecological degradation in this area where a number of petro-chemical industries are based and which is sometimes referred to as Cancer Alley. Like the Western landscapes for which Misrach is best known, these photographs challenge viewers with environmental and political concerns while seducing them with evocative and lyrically beautiful large-scale prints. In focusing on the delicate state of the Mississippi River, Misrach’s work signals not just the environmental challenges facing the South but also the larger costs of our modern world at the dawn of the 21st century.

_____________

EXHIBITS: ABROAD

Martin Klimas: SONIC SCULPTURES

April 10 - July 6, 2013

The Landestheater

Linz, Austria

To celebrate the opening of a new opera house in Linz, Austria, artist Martin Klimas is exhibiting 20 photographs of his SONIC sculptures. To create these lively jaunts of color, Klimas droped paint on a thin membrane and subjected it to music by Paul Hindemith, Carl Orff, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mouse on Mars, Kraftwerk and more. What does music look like? This is one interpretation.

_____________

DATA, TRUTH & BEAUTY

May 23 - 29, 2013

GV Art Gallery

49 Chiltern Street

London, England

The University of Westminster’s Broad Vision project will open an exhibition at the GV Art gallery in London on 23 May which will bring together the works of an interdisciplinary group of art and science students engaged in collaborative experimentation and research. The exhibition ‘Data, Truth & Beauty’, which will run until 29 May, explores the integrity and aesthetics of information. It will feature digital investigations into data bending and glitch art; biological experiments with bacterial portraiture and self-illuminating sculpture; psychological studies on the perception of beauty; and creative explorations of the realms of reality.

_____________

EXHIBITS: ONLINE

Science Art-Nature's WINDOWS ON EVOLUTION: An Artistic Celebration of Charles Darwin

The University of Tennessee's EARLY IMAGES OF EGYPT: Selected Images of Egypt in the Photographic Archive Collection of the Frank H. McClung Museum

Know of something we haven't listed here? Send me an email at symbiartic (dot) km (at) gmail (dot) com, or tweet me @eyeforscience with the deets. If it's scienceart related, it's fair game.