EXPULSION revisits the Biblical theme of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, popular amongst humanist painters in the early Renaissance in part due to the opportunity it provided to display their virtuosity in representing nude male and female forms. An expert draftsman trained in traditional figure drawing, Michael Reedy combines his realistic depictions of Adam and Eve with elements from genres that fall outside the canon of art history—medical illustration and cartooning.
He therefore portrays the first man and woman not only nude, but partially stripped of flesh to reveal their underlying bones, blood vessels, and viscera, as in an anatomical atlas. Displaced from the familiar flora and fauna of Eden, they mourn their loss amidst surreal surroundings of psychedelic spirals, disembodied eyeballs, and grotesque monsters. This discomforting juxtaposition of clinical, naturalistic, and caricatural views of the body underscores the simultaneous absurdity and tragedy of human existence.
OPENING: Friday, December 14, 2012 from 5 pm to 8 pm
EXHIBITION DATES: December 14, 2012 – February 24, 2013
LOCATION: International Museum of Surgical Science 1524 N. Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL
RSVP to the opening via Facebook.
