Exhibition: Teaching the Body

Teaching the Body: Artistic Anatomy in the American Academy, from Copley, Rimmer, and Eakins to Contemporary Artists The Boston University Art Gallery is pleased to present Teaching the Body: Artistic Anatomy in the American Academy, from Copley, Rimmer, and Eakins to Contemporary Artists curated by Naomi Slipp (MA, University of Chicago; Jan & Warren Adelson Doctoral Fellow, Boston University). Teaching the Body explores the intersections between the fields of art and medicine and contextualizes the study of artistic anatomy within American art academies in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, from the first anatomy text of John Singleton Copley, created in 1756, to the contemporary works of Kiki Smith and others. Sections within the exhibition examine the role of medicine in the development of pedagogical practice, the politics of anatomy, the expanding role of women in anatomical education, and the impact of artistic anatomy on artists working today. Significantly, the exhibition examines both what this study meant for these artists and also for the way that we think about our own bodies today.

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