“The persevering surgeon” an 18^th century cartoon by Thomas Rowlandson shows a surgeon leering over a dead female body, a sneering smile on his face and her breasts in his fascinated grope. Although this makes uncomfortable viewing, a fascination with the details of human anatomy is something visitors can relate to, as they walk through the Museum of London’s exhibition ‘Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men’.  Intricate sketches, eerie wax models, butterfly wing-thin cross sections of bone and tissue decorate the space, as the creators of the exhibition play up to their visitors’ morbid curiosity. more…

Here’s one for your diary, an exhibition of images by Deborah Padfield, in collaboration with patients & clinicians at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, entitled Can you see Pain? Anyone who knows Deborah’s work from her previous exhibition and book entitled Perceptions of Pain won’t want to miss this.

http://www.dewilewispublishing.com/PHOTOGRAPHY/Perceptions.html more…

SAATCHI GALLERY 27th October 2010 – 17th April 2011

A few weeks ago I visited the new exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery with my group of 4^th year King’s College Medical Students. Visits to galleries, museums and art installations are an integral part of the ‘The Good Doctor’ Special Study Module but I hadn’t included the Saatchi Gallery before.  Modern conceptual art is challenging and I was uncertain how this visit would help in our exploration of medical matters. I need not have worried; our visit was enjoyable, reassuringly accessible and it was easy to make links to the theme of goodness in contemporary medical practice.

Newspeak Two on display in the large bright rooms at the Saatchi Gallery, King’s Road, London continues the showcase of contemporary British Art started in June 2010 with Newspeak One.  All the original exhibits, including the widely advertised Pink Cher by Scott King, have been replaced and the new collection opened at the end of October.  Charles Saatchi’s Sensation! exhibition (Royal Academy 1997) had – sensationally -  brought late 20th century British Art to public notice. This was the outing of Damian Hirst’s shark, Tracey Emin’s unmade bed, Mark Quinn’s blood sculptures, Chris Ofili’s ingenious uses of elephant dung and the Chapman Brothers doing what they do best – shocking us into a reaction.  So what would we make of Newspeak? more…

Anyone lucky enough to have come across or been engaged with Mark Gilbert’s work in the Changing Faces exhibition will be pleased to hear that more of his work is now publicly available.

http://mh.bmj.com/content/suppl/2010/06/23/36.1.5.DC1/MH_Appendix_003780.pdf

One of Mark’s paintings, Jarad, featured on the cover of the June issue of Medical Humanities and I would urge you to go on-line and to take time to look this extraordinary portrait. If you do, then I suspect that the experience  will be profound, and, depending perhaps on your perspective and your experiences, even a little disturbing. For some of you this will be the first time you have born witness to someone else’s experience of illness, and you may be struck by the introspective quality of Jarad’s portrait. Others will already know more than they wish to about being ill or of caring for someone who is ill. more…

An exhibition of recent work by artist David Marron opened recently at GV Art Gallery in London, writes Marina Wallace, curator of the exhibition. A catalogue, containing the writings of the artist, accompanies the show. Having installed his work, and having been present at the private view and the following days’ encounters with critics, journalists, and interested parties, David Marron returned to his shifts as a paramedic, working on an ambulance in London. more…

Atomised. Jim Bond. Animated Sculpture, 2005

Cambridge University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is a wonderful research and teaching resource. It’s also has an exhibition space that’s open to the public. more…