The study of anatomy is the perfect opportunity for art and science to join forces to explore the human body. 500 years ago, Andreas Vesalius’ anatomical illustrations paved the way for anatomical drawings to be educational and aesthetically independent works. Nowadays in the age of digital and mechanical imaging of the human body, we see the body through different lenses; CT scans, X-rays and non-invasive surgery help us see our internal structure without ever cutting into the body. As a result of the necessary accuracy of such images for proper medical diagnoses, artistic handling and interpretation has become less relevant in the world of science.

This exhibition extracts the classical heritage of anatomy and utilises modern imaging techniques to create a fusion of the historical and modern body. The figure of the Venus is used as a vessel for these studies, as she has represented the ideal in proportion and physical beauty since antiquity. ‘Anatomical Venuses’ have been used as educational tools since the 18th century, but they also possess a degree of macabre beauty.

The title ‘Schrödinger’s Venus’ relates to the strange state in which an Anatomical Venus must be in for her to remain alive yet completely subdued; animate and inanimate, dead and alive.