More Musings on the Brain, Oliver Sacks & Hieronymus Bosch

Lea Anderson, Membrainchain, 2010,

installation detail, at Offramp Gallery

through November 21, 2010.

Living with the beautiful chain of morphing brains in Lea Anderson's Membrainchain installation has given me the perfect excuse to revisit the books of Oliver Sacks -- especially his tales of visual artists.  For those of you not familiar with Sacks, he is a neurologist who writes compassionate and fascinating case studies of patients with neurological disorders.

"The Case of the Colorblind Painter," from Sack's An Anthropologist On Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales tells the story of a mature, accomplished artist, who after suffering a concussion in a car accident, becomes completely colorblind -- not your red/green garden-variety colorblindness, but completely unable to see any color whatsoever.

"The Landscape of His Dreams" involves a man who becomes a painter after a strange illness. He is suddenly compelled to paint from memory every nook and cranny of his childhood home in Italy. It is as if he has a 3-D model of the town in front of him and can turn it to whatever perspective he wants. The obsession takes over and becomes his life.

Not all of the case histories in this book are about artists (there's one about a surgeon with Tourette's syndrome!) but all are fascinating. 

* * *

How can you not read an article with this title: "Shocking news from Oxford: you can't play a flute with your bottom: Musicologists in Oxford have made exact replicas of instruments featured in The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch." It's guaranteed to make you smile.

* * *

Thanks to Heather Lowe who filled me in on the artist's name I couldn't remember last week: Patrick Hughes. His "reverspective" paintings are fascinating. Here's a video of him talking about his work. 

Upcoming at Offramp Gallery

The closing reception and artist's talk for Lea Anderson: Membrainchain will be held on Sunday, November 21 from 2-5pm. The artist's talk will be at 3pm. If you haven't seen the installation yet, try to make it on the 21st.

Offramp Gallery and Project 210 are merging for the holidays with a joint venture, ArtZone, a one-stop holiday shop for affordable art. 27 artists from both galleries have been invited to submit art work priced at $500 or below. The exhibition will be held at Offramp Gallery for eight days only, December 11-19, 2010.  The opening reception will be held on Sunday, December 12, from 2-5pm. Please note Special Holiday Hours: Saturday & Sunday (December 11, 12, 18, 19): noon-8pm, Monday - Friday (December 13-17): 4-8pm