Category Archives: Anatomy

The Morbid Anatomy Library--a private research library and collection I make available to the interested public in Brooklyn, New York--is pleased to announce new regular open hours every Saturday from 12-6.

The library and cabinet--pictured above in a series of photos by Shannon Taggart--makes available a collection of curiosities, books, photographs, artworks, ephemera, and artifacts relating to medical museums, anatomical art, collectors and collecting, cabinets of curiosity, the history of medicine, death and society, natural history, arcane media, and curiosity and curiosities broadly considered. The present Morbid Anatomy Library Scholar in Residence is Evan Michelson of Obscura Antiques and Oddities and the new television show "Oddities."

If you would like to know more, you can read about the library in Newsweek, Time Out New York, or The Huffington Post and watch videos about it produced by Newsweek, Rocketboom Media, and WPIX's Toni On! New York.

The library is located at 543 Union Street at Nevins in Brooklyn New York. Enter via Proteus Gowanus gallery or by buzzing buzzer 1E. Click here to view map.

To find out more about the Morbid Anatomy Library, click here.

Photos by Shannon Taggart.

"Electoral College"

Nicholas Allanach is a New York City based artist and writer, originally hailing from Maine. He has lived in New York for eight years. Much of Allanach’s work showcases distorted bodies or bodies manipulated by their environments and situations. He is also a friend of mine and so I took advantage and asked him some questions about his work and specific pieces. I asked him if he was conscious of his use of the human body in so much of his work.

Allanach:

I have always been intrigued by the way the body (specifically the face) is represented in art. Oftentimes, I think the body or face in art can be positioned or expressed in a certain way to express a deeper feeling or idea about the human condition as it adjusts and behaves in the changing world and environment. For me, much of my work expressed my feelings about technology or our humanity as it confronts forces of commodification, simulation, and surveillance. I try to exaggerate parts of the body.

Allanach saw the above image, “Electoral College”, in a dream after the 2000 election. About it, he says:

I [aslo] felt as though the expressions of pain and frustration on the faces illustrate how many felt about the dismantling of our democracy.

"Plush"

About “Plush”:

My first thought was to show humans as insectile. I then thought of how we consume the world around us through the senses that make up our face. I wanted this piece to celebrate the human senses. I also wanted it to make the viewer feel slightly uncomfortable in that it expresses the secondary nature of sex, which is not much for procreation, but stimulation.

"Subtractor Negative 2.0"

“Subtractor Negative 2.0″:

I wanted to express my feelings on how I believe our thoughts and lives are often erased or totally spent in service to larger codes and ideas. The emphasis on the eye communicates how we receive and process this world of codes. The image of the fetus as a skeleton in the top half of the circle is meant to illustrate how our lives are in service to these codes our entire life, from birth to death.

You can see more of Allanach’s work on his blog, New World Image.

On this, the 4th anniversary of Street Anatomy, we’re officially opening the Street Anatomy online gallery store! Most of the items for sale are from the Street Anatomy Group Gallery show, so for those of you who weren’t able to make it to the show, here’s your chance to own a piece of unique anatomical art.

The goal of the store is to help support artists who use anatomy in their work and showcase them to a community that is passionate about anatomy in art, medicine, and design.

Street Anatomy started 4 years ago as a small blog whose purpose was to teach the public about the field of medical illustration.  It quickly evolved into an exploration of the uses of anatomy in all types of art and today it showcases the use of anatomy in pop culture from all over the world.  The anatomy in pop culture trend has exploded over the last 4 years, so much so that even our team of 6 can barely keep up!

We look forward to 2011 and beyond with plans to do more Street Anatomy gallery shows across the U.S. and hopefully abroad.

Of course, we wouldn’t be anything without our dedicated audience and community and we extend a big thank you to everyone that’s supported us and what we do!

- The Street Anatomy team

For artists who are interested in selling their work through the Street Anatomy gallery store, please contact Vanessa Ruiz at vanessa@streetanatomy.com and Jennifer von Glahn at j.vonglahn@gmail.com.

As Street Anatomy nears the wise age of 4 years at the beginning of 2011, it is time to add yet another eccentric individual to the team.  I’d like to introduce New Jersey originated and Chicago-based, medical illustrator, designer, trendspotter, Jennifer von Glahn.

Jen is a fellow classmate of mine from UIC’s Biomedical Visualization Master’s program and a graduate from Case Western Reserve University.  She has the ability to spot some of the coolest anatomy related fashion, gadgets, products, and more.  Keep an eye out for her must have anatomy gift lists.  I guarantee you’ll be spending some cash because of this girl.

Beauty, brains, and talent—we couldn’t ask for much more here on Street Anatomy.

Welcome Jen!

Pietro Travaglini designed this bookshelf to bend and shift as seamlessly as your own backbone. The shelves are accented by white LED lights which I’m sure gives it a ghostly glow at night.

[spotted by Jenny via Furnifurnish]

Rather than showcasing their orangic foods, La Buena Tierra wanted to visually show how junk foods destroy your insides. I love the art direction though I do fear what my insides look like after the cheese burrito I inhaled earlier looks like…

Advertising Agency: Z Mexico
Creative Directors: Jose Arce, Fernando Carrera
Art Director / Copywriter / Illustrator: Fernando Carrera
Photographer: Gustavo Dueñas