Between Soft Machines and Hard Science: The Interstitial Art of W. David Powell

January 15 - June 8, 2008
Wilbur Room

Both artists and scientists have portrayed and mapped the human body and sought levels of meaning in those images. Artist W. David Powell's installation of his digital prints alongside historic scientific instruments reflects his fascination with the human mind and body and our own relationships with science and healing. Powell's prints play off the scientific beliefs of both the Eastern and Western worlds, from phrenology, a theory that claimed to determine character based on the shape of the skull, to the use of electrical currents to cure disease.

Incorporating charts and devices from both obsolete and contemporary scientific sources, Powell's installation invites us to re-evaluate our understanding of how the human body and mind interact, and the ways that art and science can clarify or confuse that understanding. The juxtaposition of the prints and artifacts invites viewers to make thought-provoking correlations in an exhibition that provides more questions than answers about our notions of mind and body.

This exhibition is generously supported by the Kalkin Family Exhibitions Endowment Fund, the 1675 Foundation, and the Walter Cerf Exhibitions Fund.