Aspirations / Contemplation, painting on canvas, 5 x 6 feet, Audrius V. Plioplys
The BRAIN-ART Initiative exhibit was very well received, and even was named Pick of the Week by the Chicago Tribune. The show ended at the Beverly Arts Center and moved to the University of Chicago hospitals. The title of the exhibit was changed to Galaxy of the Brain. This exhibit was displayed in the 2nd floor corridor link between the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine and the Center for Care and Discovery from November 1, 2014 through April 2015. The exhibit then moved to the 3rd floor link between the Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery and the Gordon Center for Interactive Science, in May 2015 and continues to be on display there today.
The University’s art curator, Ms. Monica Hork, prepared a write-up for this exhibit which continues to be posted at the show. Here is the beautiful and poetic text:
Considering all the recent scientific and medical discoveries about the structure and function of the human brain, it is a timely subject ripe for creative exploration as well. This unique collection of work by 24 artists was organized by Audrius V. Plioplys in support of the BRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) and includes topics ranging from the artists whose ranks include neurosurgeons, stroke victims and caretakers who have much more than an aesthetic interest in the subject. This was originally exhibited as the BRAIN-ART Initiative at the Beverly Arts Center in Chicago.
Since art is more about interpretation than scientific accuracy, the images evoke conceptual abstraction and emotional interaction. Each work engages the audience with an idea that contains the essential ingredients of our humanness. The physiological brain is the mechanical center of our thoughts, our feelings, our senses, our memories, our motions and our individuality. Brain activity is used to determine that we are alive from birth to death. In that context, artists look for meaning beyond function. That open ended search carries the work of scientists and doctors to another level, the spiritual level where we find purpose in our existence.
That is why the artistic interpretation of the brain is so vital and matters so much. The connection between the brain and our being is like no other in the known universe. It is our personal galaxy.
The University of Chicago, Medicine & Biological Sciences, Healing Arts Program.