Biomorph

WORKS, San Jose

February 3 – 27, 1999

Artweek – Previews

Steven Jenkins

February 1999

Biomorph and Phenomena

Students of art and science – in other words, virtually everyone other than Trent Lott – should pay close attention to Biomorph, a provocative, sometimes icky group exhibition for which always-incisive curator Cheryl Coon has brought together five Bay Area artists who locate life and death at the intersection of artistic experimentation and scientific investigation. By incorporating raw, organic materials into their creative processes, and by questioning ever-changing human roles within the biological passion play, the featured artists acknowledge both Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest ideology and the sick thrills of hit-and-run roadkill. Sarah Grew embeds bones, snakes and wasp’s nests in wax; vet tech Robert Keller mummifies animals; Heather McDougal magnifies animal skeletons, Leslie Seiters makes fake bones and pelts; Thea Vaughan uses raw wool, honey and other don’t-touch stuff to construct bat-like colonies and egg sacs; and Coon herself layers skin, plants, tea and insects to decidedly creepy-beautiful effect.

Parallel viewing is advised with the Ansel Adams Center for Photography’s upcoming Phenomenon exhibition, for which curator Michael Read has assembled a stellar lineup of local photographers who don lab coats and concoct surprising visual and conceptual links between art and science. And pay attention class…this will be covered on the midterm.