OPENING THIS WEEKEND: Grotesque AND beautiful body modifications go under the spotlight at The Lowry
An exhibition that explores extreme body modifications – from the grotesque to the beautiful – opens at The Lowry in Salford on Saturday. (9 November)
The State of Us features a collection of work by ten international artists and will run until Sunday, 23 February (2020).
The exhibition will question if technological intervention has out-paced natural order and examine if humans are engineering evolution.
The artists that feature have experimented with the body and technology to transform, manipulate, reinvent or reshape how we see and understand ourselves.
Work is on display from Belgium, Canada, Germany, the Philippines, Russia, the UK and the USA and includes:
- Art of Deception by Isaac Monte: a series of 12 hearts altered by design
- Until I Die by ::vtol:: : a sculpture that uses fake human blood to create electricity
- Regenerative Reliquary by Amy Karle: the frame of a human hand grown using biotechnology
- Sekseneutraal by Mac Daniel V Palima & Hettie Holman: a filmed dance performance that explores gender shape-shifting
- Anatomy of Desire by Kurt d’Haeseleer: a virtual jury that analyses imagined criminal memories
- The Tides Within Us by Marshmallow Laser Feast: the flow of air and fluid in the body animated in print and CGI film
- Brains in a Dish by Charlie Murphy: intimate sculptures of the inner body made out of recycled medical glass and instruments
- Virus by William Latham: a virtual reality trip through the microscopic world of viruses
- A Generative Adversarial Network by Matthew Biederman: a series of airport body scans that try to identify threats
- Marvel Comic collection, courtesy of Stephen Josland: a collection of rare comics that illustrate how art has always transformed the human body and mind into super-heroes and anti-heroes
Lucy Dusgate, curator of the exhibition for The Lowry, said: “Mary Shelley wrote in Frankenstein that the human body was a ‘workshop of filthy creation’ – and never has that statement been so accurate. Technology has enabled us to imagine the distance between truth and fantasy. It’s a fascinating topic and one we think our visitors will enjoy exploring.”
The State of Us is the latest contemporary art exhibition at The Lowry and forms part of their commitment to presenting the best experimental art to audiences.
The Lowry galleries are named The Andrew and Zoe Law Galleries in recognition of the couple’s £1m donation to the arts centre, which is a registered charity.