“The Visible Skeleton Series” traveling exhibit


“For Laura Ferguson, art is picture imperfect. Pushing the idea of beauty beyond its normal conventions, her highly personal, multilayered paintings are based on medical images of her own spinal deformity. And now at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, you can see 50 of these unique compositions — as well as a three-dimensional scan of the artist's body, X-rays, and more — in Laura Ferguson: The Visible Skeleton Series.”
— Museums Washington, Fall/Winter, 2004

“Stunning work; self-revealing, artistic and medical/scientific all at once! Thank you!”
— comment from exhibit guestbook


“Laura Ferguson: The Visible Skeleton Series”
Original installation at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Washington, DC
May 2004 - August 2005
http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/skeleton/index.html


Now available for traveling to other exhibition spaces.

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View the exhibit:
original museum installation
artworks
process panels
Download a copy of the traveling exhibit prospectus [in PDF format]
Read about How viewers respond to The Visible Skeleton Series

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Corporate sponsors:
• Medtronic Sofamor Danek
• Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.


Installation elements
The installation parallels the learning-through-drawing process by which the artworks were made, telling the story of Laura Ferguson’s journey and how she transformed her body’s experiences into art.

Artworks from The Visible Skeleton Series:
36 original paintings (media: oils, bronze powder, charcoal, pastel pencil, and oil crayon on paper) and 4 digital inkjet prints

Process panels
• a photo montage of the floating colors process, with sample papers
• examples of the xrays and 3D spiral CT scans on which the artworks are based
• photographs of the scoliotic spine specimens from the NMHM’s anatomical collection (in lieu of the actual specimens, which were part of the original installation)
• historic medical illustrations of normal (Albinus) and scoliotic (Sandifort) spines

Documentary DVD
• a 15-minute documentary that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the artist and the making of The Visible Skeleton Series. It includes an animation of the 3D CT scan.


Prints exhibit
A smaller version of the exhibit, well-suited for university or medical center libraries or smaller galleries, is also available for traveling. It features limited edition prints in lieu of original artworks.


To learn more
For a printable document [in PDF format] with complete information about the artist, the work, and installation specifications (for both the original and the prints versions),
download a copy of the traveling exhibit prospectus

For more information, or to suggest a possible venue in your area, please contact us.


Booking
Facilities interested in booking the exhibit may contact Dr. Adrianne Noe, Director, National Museum of Health and Medicine, at 202-782-2692, noe@afip.osd.mil
or Laura Ferguson

To book the prints exhibit, contact Laura Ferguson