On a very hot and sunny Friday afternoon I walked down Euston Road to the Wellcome Collection because I had been dying to go and have a look at their intriguing new exhibition: Skin.
They say themselves that skin is “the largest and probably most overlooked human organ” and yet it is what holds us all together, creates our identity and shows our age more vividly than anything else, all areas which this exhibition explored. I personally found the wax figures for the early 15th and 16th centuries fascinating, that since then we were taking such an active look at the more intricate parts of the body, I also found the look into tribal markings and tattoos really interesting, the instruments once used, now on show, conjure up some rather graphic ideas of pain if your imagination is just half as active as mine.
The more contemporary works with the use of photography and video are beautiful in a grotesque way but again I can’t take my eyes of something that scares me a little. All in all, the entire exhibition is very comprehensive, it shows a total spectrum of this organ in a space that was not as sprawling as I’d expected, yet still large enough to debut all these topics and never overcrowd itself.
This exhibition showed how the exploration of the human body will never cease to amaze us, as lets admit it; we all love to talk about ourselves.
Exhibition Runs 10 June-26 September, for information call: 020 7611 2222
They say themselves that skin is “the largest and probably most overlooked human organ” and yet it is what holds us all together, creates our identity and shows our age more vividly than anything else, all areas which this exhibition explored. I personally found the wax figures for the early 15th and 16th centuries fascinating, that since then we were taking such an active look at the more intricate parts of the body, I also found the look into tribal markings and tattoos really interesting, the instruments once used, now on show, conjure up some rather graphic ideas of pain if your imagination is just half as active as mine.
The more contemporary works with the use of photography and video are beautiful in a grotesque way but again I can’t take my eyes of something that scares me a little. All in all, the entire exhibition is very comprehensive, it shows a total spectrum of this organ in a space that was not as sprawling as I’d expected, yet still large enough to debut all these topics and never overcrowd itself.
This exhibition showed how the exploration of the human body will never cease to amaze us, as lets admit it; we all love to talk about ourselves.
Exhibition Runs 10 June-26 September, for information call: 020 7611 2222
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