'SELF-ISH' : EXHIBITION OF EXTRAORDINARY PORTRAITS

'SELF-ISH' IS A BOLD NEW EXHIBITION OF EXTRAORDINARY PORTRAITS, BRINGING TOGETHER THE LATEST CUTTING-EDGE CONTEMPORARY ART.

'self-ish' is an exploration of portraiture, and a journey into the infinite number of ways artists bridge science and culture through their practice. The show brings together work by some of the best established and emerging artists whose work mixes science with creativity, hailing from some of the most prestigious art institutions in the UK, including; The Royal College of Art, Central St Martin's College of Art & Design, Goldsmith's College, and The Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art (University of Oxford).

We have reached a point where new media & technology are opening up the idea of what a portrait can be. 'self-ish' attempts to show how the portrait is evolving alongside its more traditional manifestations.

"... portraits are art works, intentionally made of
living or once living people by artists, in a variety of media, and for an audience. The ... portrait’s allusion to an individual human being, actually
existing outside the work, denies the function of the art work in the world and constitutes the cause of its coming into being." Brilliant, 1991

Richard Sawdon-Smith's photographic self-portraits explore the emotional and psychological impact that positive diagnosis of disease can have on the body and the mind; Matthias Groebel's robot-assisted portraits hail the arrival of a new breed of mechanistic art; Anthony Gross's digital portraits utilise internet-downloaded software to explore notions of cloning, and the possibility of designing an 'ideal' human; whilst John Gerrard’s digital Saddening Portrait exists much like a photographic portrait, except that it looks around, blinks and over 100 years gets steadily sadder in appearance.

"For the first time, an independent gallery in central London will be dedicated to fusing art and science. Only true cultural entrepreneurs could make such a creative enterprise work." Tanya Reed, Editor, The Reporter, Imperial College, London

"SciCult is the essence of the meaning of the word
and concept 'interdisciplinary'. It is a true melding of an old and quite artificial rift between two branches of study and endeavour." Marlene Robinson, The Portman Magazine

'SELF-ISH' IS THE INAUGURAL EXHIBITION OF SciCult, THE UK'S FIRST INDEPENDENT SCIENCE-RELATED ART GALLERY. THE SHOW ALSO MARKS THE LAUNCH OF A TWO-YEAR SCIENCE & PORTRAITURE PROJECT WHICH WILL CULMINATE IN A SERIES OF NEW PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT FIGURES IN BOTH SCIENCE, AND ART.

The first of these will be an MRI portrait of Sir Richard Sykes (Rector of Imperial College, London), in collaboration with Dr Wladyslaw Gedroyc of St Mary's Hospital. Work will begin on this new commission in April 2004.

The project will be logged on this website, and completion will see a final exhibition incorporating new work, and the release of a publication.