Robin Held, Henry Art Gallery

Contact RobinHeld@henryart.org Box 351410

ATCG: Human Genomics in Contemporary Art (working title)

ATCG: Human Genomics in Contemporary Art An exhibition and programs
exploring the implications of the human genome project for our
understanding of human life and identity

Henry Art Gallery
February-May 2002

The exhibition ATCG: Human Genomics in Contemporary Art explores the
implications of the human genome project for our understanding of human
life and identity.  The art museum is an important place to explore
dimensions of human genomics and its potential impact on contemporary
culture in ways not necessarily addressed in other venues.  The complex
ideas of biotechnology and genomics are a compelling arena for artistic
exploration and provide a platform for a significant contemporary
discourse among the humanities, bridging the history and criticism of art
with the history and philosophy of science, technology and medicine.  
Metaphors and symbolism in visual art can provide new ways of approaching
this important civic issue and offer the general public a point of entry
into these timely questions.  Preliminary exhibition themes include:

Genetic Anxieties: Visibility, Difference and the History of Eugenics
The New Alphabet: DNA as Informational Code, Metaphor, Text
Biomedical Ethics, Healthcare and Human Genomics
Re-imagining Identity I: Identity, Essentialism and Human Genomics
Re-imagining Identity II: The Notion of Family and Human Genomics
Blurring Species Boundaries: Transgenics, Metagenics and Beyond
The Gene as Cultural Icon: DNA in Visual Culture