Inspiration for SUArt Galleries’ latest photo exhibit came from some unusual places — like operating rooms.

Art and science come together to form the exhibit on display now in Shaffer Hall, which is titled “Hidden Beauty: Exploring the Aesthetics of Medical Science.” Brought to life by Norman Barker and Christine Iacobuzio-Donahue, two experts in the medical field, it features 50 pictures created by medical professionals.

Barker, who is giving talks on campus this week, said the photos can not only offer a better way of understanding how diseases progress, but also add to viewers’ senses of wonder and curiosity.

Iacobuzio-Donahue, a doctor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, told BBC that the idea for this project came to her when she was looking at a sample of testicular cancer. She said it reminded her of modern art.

Iacobuzio-Donahue worked with Barker, who is a professor in pathology and art as applied to medicine at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine, to create the exhibit. Barker echoed her sentiment, saying that everyday things in the medical field can be beautiful.

“On a daily basis we see all kinds of things whether through the microscope, in the operating room, and many of these things are beautiful,” Barker said.

The images, Barker said, were taken with several different imaging techniques, including MRI, PET imaging, confocal microscopy, and a simple digital camera. Barker said the diseases represented in the art are common.

He described one particular photo in the exhibit he finds interesting, one not related to a disease.

“There is one picture of a placenta, in the exhibit, and it’s red, it’s blood, but the placenta is an interesting organ because it’s the only organ in our bodies — of course female, that is designed to be thrown out after its intended use. And of course we’ve all had contact with a placenta, one way or another.”

There are legends that go along with each image, Barker said, which are meant to give an in-depth explanation of the images being shown. These legends are written for an audience that would be interested in science.

Emily Dittman, the exhibition and collection manager of SUArt Galleries, said the exhibition was chosen because it was aesthetically pleasing and relevant to the sciences. A committee of Syracuse University faculty, gallery staff members and students made the decision.

“People are surprised in a lot of ways when they enter the exhibition if they don’t know that that’s what the show is about,” Dittman said. “Because at first view, you wouldn’t know that these are medical images.”

She added that viewers might not recognize the photos as being of the human body because they’re microscopic.

“But they’re blown up to a great detail. So a lot of them just look like a painting or a print or a photograph that’s an abstract view,” she said. “And it’s not until you get close to them and start reading the descriptive text that Norman created, when you read what really they are.”

Some people are queasy when it comes to medical issues, she said, but she hopes the exhibit might make viewers see the beauty in medicine.

“Just because something is art doesn’t necessarily mean it’s pleasing,” Barker said. “There’s a lot of art out there that is challenging, and there is a lot of art that is not beautiful.”

Barker will be on campus Thursday to give a talk titled, “The Wonder of the Scientific Image” at 5:30 p.m. in Room 106 of the Life Sciences Complex. Barker’s talk will encompass the history of photography and try to bridge the gap between science and photography, Dittman said.

He will give an additional talk on Friday at the SUArt Galleries titled “Can Scientific Photographs be Art?” at 12:15 p.m.

The exhibition will be on display through March 9 in the Shaffer Art Building. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays. The receptions this week are free and open to the public.

Barker said he hopes the exhibit gives viewers “a different way of looking and appreciating the human body.”

Published on February 21, 2018 at 10:37 pm

Contact Jony: ktsampah@syr.edu