Bodily functions in art - Pulse: reflections on the body

Pulse: Reflections on the body is an art exhibition at the Canberra Museum+Gallery in the heart of the city, Canberra. Twenty-seven artists are exhibiting paintings, floor-talks, public conversations, sculptures and performance programs from October 18, 2014 to February 22, 2015.

The exhibition explores the constituent elements of the human body – tissue, water, fat, muscle blood, and bone. The 27 artists were selected to represent the “perplexing qualities of uniqueness and commonality which our bodies reflect and the methods by which we perceive and understand ourselves.” Therefore the range of media includes moving images, painting, performance, photography, sculpture, text, and printmaking.

Exhibits include Nell’s (1975-) 2008 bronze figure amid 33 hand-blown glass figures and Jude Rae’s (1956-) Interior Series (2004-2005) of oil on linen depicting portraits with eyes closed. Rory (2012) by Charles White (1989-) is a black and white/silver selenide print of young man while Peter Maloney (1953-) presents ‘an occasional portrait’ (2007) of a male in black and white acrylic paint and ink on canvas. Contrasting the black and white photographs and inks are Heatwave (2014) by Robert Boynes (1942-) and John Nelson’s (1952-) striking eye called Hugh (2014). Patsy Payne (1955-) has a series of stencil drawings from mild steel matrix ink on Thai Sa paper separated into two sheets, called Shadow 3 (2009), Shadow 4 (2014) and Shadow 5 (2014). Michael Zavros (1974-) has a series of four oils on boards, called Man in a wool suit (1999), Handkerchief (2000), Tux (2000), and Grey suit (2001).

On November 12, the exhibition curator, Mark Bayly, will discuss how contemporary artists are exploring ideas about the human body and what it means to be human. On November 14, the Canberra Museum+Gallery will host a Writers Workshop: Writing on the body which aims to provide a session to express a sense of the body through creative writing. November 29 will present a seminar Taking the Pulse where art and science will be expressed through discussions with two artists, a scientist, and a performance artist.

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