{"id":12316,"date":"2018-09-04T17:26:26","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T17:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/body-as-a-work-of-art-more-than-skin-deep\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T15:04:25","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T15:04:25","slug":"body-as-a-work-of-art-more-than-skin-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2018\/09\/body-as-a-work-of-art-more-than-skin-deep\/","title":{"rendered":"Body as a Work of Art: More than Skin Deep"},"content":{"rendered":"
What makes a body beautiful? Is it symmetry and perfect skin? Or is it uniqueness\u2014the subtle and not-so-subtle differences that prove each one of us is not like anyone else?<\/p>\n
Body as a Work of Art: More Than Skin Deep<\/em>, a new, original exhibit at The Health Museum<\/strong><\/a>, dives deep into this conversation, challenging visitors to think beyond beauty stereotypes.<\/p>\n The exhibit gathers work from multiple artists.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is really about encouraging people to define [beauty] intrinsically,\u201d said LaTanya Miles, director of education and public programs at the museum.<\/p>\n One section of the exhibit, \u201cScar Stories: Portraits of Survival,\u201d<\/strong><\/a> offers dramatic black and white photographs by photojournalist Cody Duty that depict Texas Medical Center patients with visible scars. The photos originally appeared in the September 2017 issue of TMC Pulse magazine. Visitors to the exhibit are invited to select the portraits on a touch screen to learn more about the patients and the stories behind their scars.<\/p>\n Another photographic component of the exhibit is \u201cPositive Exposure\u201d by Rick Guidotti<\/strong><\/a>, whose images depict individuals living with genetic, physical, behavioral or intellectual differences. Guidotti\u2019s portraits aim to change social attitudes around individuals perceived as different.<\/p>\n \u201cBODYSUITS,\u201d another piece of the exhibit, comes from Los Angeles-based artist Sarah Sitkin<\/strong><\/a>, who created life-size molds from real bodies that allow museum visitors to step into someone else\u2019s skin. Sitkin has turned real bodies into wearable garments.<\/p>\n Still another portion of the exhibit, \u201cHidden Beauty,\u201d offers the work of Norman Barker<\/strong><\/a>, a professor of pathology and art as applied medicine at Johns Hopkins University who explores art at the cellular level.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Hidden Beauty\u2019 was created when Norm was looking at diseased cells under the microscope and he thought, \u2018These could be on the walls of an art gallery,\u2019\u201d Miles said. His work, she added, speaks to the paradox that something harmful can also be beautiful.<\/p>\n